3 lessons for India after loss to Sri Lanka in Asia Cup 2024 final
India Women lost to Sri Lanka Women by eight wickets in the final of the Women's Asia Cup T20 2024. The match took place on Sunday, July 28, at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.
Batting first, the Women in Blue openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma (16 off 18 balls) stitched together a 44-run partnership. Uma Chetry (9) and Harmanpreet Kaur (11) fell early.
However, Smriti continued scoring from one end. The left-handed batter played a brilliant hand, scoring 60 runs off 47 balls, smashing 10 boundaries. Later, Jemimah Rodrigues (29 off 16 balls) and Richa Ghosh (30 off 14 balls) played decent cameos, as India finished 165/6 in their 20 overs. Kavisha Dilhari took two wickets for the hosts.
In response, India got an early breakthrough, as a mix-up between Sri Lankan openers resulted in the wicket of Vishmi Gunaratne in the second over.
Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama stitched together a brilliant 87-run partnership for the second wicket in 63 balls. The Sri Lankan captain scored 61 runs off 43 balls before Deepti Sharma cleaned up the left-handed batter.
Samarawickrama, along with Kavisha Dilhari, played blinders, as Sri Lanka won their first Women’s Asia Cup title. Samarawickrama remained unbeaten on 69 off 51 balls, while Dilhari smashed a six to bring glory for Sri Lanka, remaining unbeaten on 30 off 16 balls.
The Island Nation won the game by eight wickets with eight balls remaining. As Harmanpreet and company lost the Asia Cup final, we will look at three lessons for Women in Blue to take from their loss in the final.
#1 India need to handle pressure in high-stakes matches
Well, this was not the first time that India lost in a major tournament final. The Women in Blue lost the 2017 ODI World Cup final from a winning position. While chasing a target of 229, Team India went from 191/3 to 219/10, as they lost the match by nine runs.
In the 2018 Women’s Asia Cup final, Bangladesh defeated India. Then in 2020, India lost to Australia in the final of the Women's T20 World Cup, and now Sri Lanka beat India in an Asia Cup summit clash.
Indian players must learn ways to cope and have the resilience to handle pressure during high-stakes matches. During the Asia Cup final, Indian players appeared to be under pressure as they gave away runs from misfielding and dropped an important catch of Harshitha Samarawickrama. Indian players need to improve their tactics and maintain control over their game when under pressure.
#2 Improvement in the fielding department
As they say, “catches win matches.” Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur dropped a sitter in the 16th over of Harshitha Samarawickrama when Sri Lanka needed more than 35 runs. The left-handed batter then went on to score 69 runs and win the game for her side.
If Harmanpreet had taken that catch, the outcome of the game could have been different. Indian fielders were poor in the outfield, which released pressure from Sri Lankan batters.
Even in the 2020 T20 World Cup final against Australia, Shafali Verma dropped Alyssa Healy in the first over. The right-handed batter then scored 75 runs off 39 balls as the game went away from India.
India players need to improve their fielding, as a single run saved in the outfield can result in the team's victory. In crucial games, Women in Blue have let down themselves and will be aiming to put up a great show in the fielding department in the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup.
#3 Women in Blue need to use their sixth bowling option
Harmanpreet Kaur stuck with the five-bowling option even when they were conceding runs and were not able to pick up wickets. Tanuja Kanwar conceded 34 runs in her four overs, while Radha Yadav went for 47 runs.
India could have used the sixth bowling option to take Sri Lankan batters off-guard. Harmanpreet, who herself has 32 T20I wickets, could have bowled an over, or Shafali Verma could have been used.
In situations like this, when their main bowlers are not performing well, India should go to their sixth bowling option. The Indian captain, however, stuck with the key bowlers in the final even though they were being hammered, which contributed to their defeat.