Sri
Lanka v India, Asia Cup final, Kurunegala
11.5.2008
India 260 for 7 (Rawat 97, Raj
66, Dhar 50, Siriwardene 4-53) beat Sri Lanka 83 (Seema
3-10, David 3-11) by 177 runs
Scorecard
India,
led by Asha Rawat's 114-ball 97 which included 12 fours
and a six, thrashed Sri Lanka by 177 runs in Kurunagela
to clinch their fourth successive Women's Asia Cup.
Mithali
Raj won the toss and chose to bat, but India had an early
blip when Jaya Sharma was dismissed without scoring by Shiromala
Weerakkody. But Rawat and Karu Jain added 71 runs for the
second wicket to lay the platform for a big score. Jain,
however, fell to the left-arm spin of Suwini de Alwis for
a sedate 68-ball 28. Her dismissal did not deter Rawat,
who went from strength to strength after making her third
ODI fifty.
Rawat
and Raj put the Sri Lankan bowlers to the sword in the middle
overs, combining to make 91 for the third wicket off 89
balls. Rawat though, missed out on her maiden ton when she
was caught by Chamani Seneviratna off Shashikala Siriwardene.
But the run-rate took an upward surge when Raj was joined
by Rumeli Dhar, the pair amassing 82 off 60 balls. Dhar
was the more aggressive of the two, needing just 30 balls
to reach her fifty. Raj and Dhar fell within five balls
of each other, but by then they had done their bit. Siriwardene,
Sri Lanka's captain, claimed three more wickets as India
searched for quick runs, and finished with 4 for 53.
Sri
Lanka were faced with an intimidating target, and they received
a setback when Dedunu Silva was dismissed by seamer Amita
Sharma in the fourth over. But Chamari Polgampola and Siriwardene,
who scored 23 and 20 respectively, took Sri Lanka to 50
in the 13th over. But moments after, Siriwardene fell to
Dhar, a dismissal which was the start of an abrupt collapse,
as Sri Lanka lost nine wickets for 33 runs. The spin combination
of Pujare Seema and Neetu David were the main destructors,
taking three wickets apiece to hasten Sri Lanka's demise.
Courtesy -cricinfo
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