India won its second gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou when the women’s cricket team beat Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the final on Monday.
Winning the toss, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur chose to bat first. Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues scored 46 and 42 respectively in a 73-run partnership for the second wicket.
Inoka Ranaweera, Udeshika Prabodhani and Sugandika Kumari starred for Sri Lanka, picking up two wickets each as India were restricted to 116/7 in 20 overs.
In reply, Titas Sadhu dazzled, opening her spell with a double-wicket maiden. Reduced to 14/3 by Sadhu, a fourth-wicket partnership between Hasini Perera and Nilakshi de Silva helped Sri Lanka recover and put on a good fight in the chase.
But despite Oshadi Ranasinghe’s enterprising knock of 19 off 26 balls, the Indian spinners strangled the batting. Sri Lanka managed only 97/8 and India secured the gold medal, winning by 19 runs.
Here are some of the reactions on social media to India’s win:
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