[Watch] Kavisha Dilhari smacks a six as Sri Lanka stun India to win Women's Asia Cup 2024
The Sri Lanka women's cricket team stunned their Indian counterparts by eight wickets in the Asia Cup 2024 final at the Dambulla Rangiri International Stadium in Dambulla on Sunday (July 28). Right-handed batter Kavisha Dilhari smacked a six over long-on as the hosts were ecstatic and ran into the ground to celebrate their maiden title victory.
The incident occurred in the second-last over of the innings as the home side needed only eight runs to win. Dilhari's partner Harshita Samarawickrama took a couple on the first ball of the over, followed by a single in the third. Dilhari got the strike in the fourth delivery and deposited it over the fence.
Watch the winning moment here:
Earlier, Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and chose to bat first. While Smriti Mandhana starred with 60 off 47 deliveries, Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues were the only other batters to go past 20 runs. The partnership between Ghosh and Pooja Vastrakar of 31 off only 17 deliveries was instrumental in helping the defending champions to 165 in 20 overs.
India strike early but Chamari Athapaththu counterattacks to put Sri Lanka ahead
With 166 to score, the island nation lost Vishmi Gunaratne in the second over of the innings for a single-figure score. However, skipper Chamari Athapaththu controlled the innings by scoring at an excellent pace. The 34-year-old brought up her half-century off only 33 deliveries in the 10th over with a boundary off Renuka Singh.
The Women in Blue struck a vital blow in the 12th over through Deepti Sharma by bowling Athapaththu around her legs after conceding a couple of boundaries. While it seemed like India had the game by the scruff of the neck, Samarawickrama and Dilhari refused to give up, hitting timely boundaries to script a historic win.
Samarawickrama earned the Player of the Match award, while Athapaththu got the Player of the Series award.