The skipper of the Indian women’s cricket team, Harmanpreet Kaur credited her bowling unit following her team’s eight-wicket win against Sri Lanka in the final of the Women’s Asia Cup 2022 on Saturday, 15 October, in Bangladesh’s Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
Kaur lost the toss and was asked to bowl first by her Sri Lankan counterpart, Chamari Athapaththu, but the Indian bowlers had an exceptional day at the office. They restricted Athapaththu’s team to a low score of 65/9.
Renuka Singh led the attack with the ball, picking up three wickets in as many overs, whilst conceding only five runs. She was supported by Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Sneh Rana, both of whom picked up two wickets apiece.
“We should give credit to the bowlers and the fielding unit was very good today from ball one. We didn't want to give them easy runs as every ball is important, proud of the way we performed today,” Harmanpreet said after the match.
“You gotta read the wicket and place the field accordingly. We did that very well and placed the fielders accordingly and that really helped us. We were not looking at the scoreboard and we were just looking at the short targets we had for ourselves and it all worked out well,” she further added.
Athapaththu, on the other hand, claimed she was dejected but the experience her team gained from this match will only be beneficial in the long run. “Not a good batting display in the finals and I'm really upset today. Next, we have T20 World Cup and we learned a lot of things in this tournament and as a batting unit, we have to stick with our plans,” the veteran batter stated.
Redemption for Renuka, Deepti Wins POTS Award
This match was also about redemption for Renuka Singh, as the pacer had only scalped three wickets in her last five fixtures. After the match, the 26-year-old said “ Very happy because the last few games I didn't bowl well. I practiced with my coach and the staff and they really helped me get back my rhythm. Just focussed on my basics and got success. My whole team supported me really well and credit should go to my captain, coach and staff.”
Meanwhile, Deepti Sharma was adjudged the player of the series for her all-round display throughout the competition. The 25-year-old from Uttar Pradesh picked up 13 wickets at an average of only 7.69, and also contributed 94 runs with the bat.
On receiving the award, Deepti commented “I just back my strengths and those things helped me a lot in this tournament. The wickets were slow and before this tournament, I worked a lot on my batting and those sessions really helped me. This win gives us a lot of confidence going into the upcoming series as well.”
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