“Our fielding let us down” - Fans react as India lose the Women's Asia Cup final 2024
Sri Lanka Women defeated India Women in the final of the Women's Asia Cup T20 2024 by eight wickets on Sunday, July 28, at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and decided to bat first. India’s vice-captain Smriti Mandhana was brilliant for the Women in Blue, scoring 60 runs off 47 balls.
Towards the end, quick-fire innings from Jemimah Rodrigues (29 off 16 balls) and Richa Ghosh (30 off 14 balls) helped India put up a decent total on the board (165).
In response, Sri Lanka didn't have the best of starts, as a mix-up resulted in the wicket of Vishmi Gunaratne in the second over. Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama then stitched together an 87-run partnership for the second wicket off 63 balls.
Deepti Sharma dismissed Athapaththu for 61, but Samarawickrama, along with Kavisha Dilhari, scripted history for Sri Lanka. India fielders were poor, and the captain dropped a sitter in the 16th over to give Samarawickrama a lifeline.
The left-handed batter remained unbeaten on 69 off 51 balls, while Kavisha Dilhari, who hit a six to bring glory to Sri Lanka, scored 30 off 16 balls. Sri Lanka won by eight wickets with eight balls remaining.
As India failed to defend their title, here’s how fans reacted on X.
“What a run chase! Congratulations SLW, well played. Our fielding let us down,” a fan wrote.
"Sorry.. They didn’t fough hard," a fan said.
Meanwhile, other fans stated that it was just a bad day at work for the Indian women’s team.
"Just a bad day in the office for Indian women cricket team!! We always cheer for India," a fan commented.
"Tough luck. You played well throughout the tournament. You were just 1 match away from bring crowned as Asia Cup winners," wrote another.
“We made a lot of fumbles today and that cost us” - Harmanpreet Kaur reflects as India fail to retain the title
Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur said during the post-match press presentation that the team's poor fielding today contributed to Sri Lanka's victory. Kaur went on to say that the group will put in a lot of effort and remember this day.
"We played good cricket throughout the tournament and no doubt, we made a lot of fumbles today and that cost us. It was a decent total, we were looking for breakthroughs in the powerplay but it didn't go according to plan and Sri Lanka batted really well," Harmanpreet said.
"(On looking forward to the upcoming World Cup) We are looking to improve in some areas, we will definitely work hard and remember this day. They have played such good cricket from so much time and they played good cricket throughout this tournament," she continued.
With this win, Sri Lanka clinched their maiden Asia Cup title.