India struck gold on their Asian Games cricket debut when they beat in-form Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the women’s final in Hangzhou on Monday.
They had declined to enter any teams on the two previous occasions cricket was played at the multisport event, at Guangzhou in 2010 and Incheon in 2014.
“It’s a gold medal for the whole of India,” said batter Richa Ghosh. Batting first India reached 116-7 in their 20 overs with Smriti Mandhana (46) and Jemimah Rodrigues (42) putting on 73 for the second wicket.
“Winning a gold medal is something you dream about,” said Rodrigues. “It’s a reward for all the efforts we have put in over so many years.”
Sri Lanka’s chase started badly when they were reduced to 14-3 in the fifth over by a devastating spell from right-arm seamer Titas Sadhu.
She took two wickets in her first four balls and another in her third over to finish with remarkable figures of three wickets for six runs.
Sri Lanka, who had beaten England in a white-ball series for the first time earlier this month, were always behind the run rate despite Hasini Perera looking to accelerate, hitting four fours and a six in a rapid 25.
When Nilakshi de Silva was out after a battling 23, Sri Lanka were 78-5 needing 39 more with only 23 balls remaining.
Two more wickets saw them face a near-impossible 25 off the last over and could only muster five as India began to celebrate.
“It’s a golden first for us,” India assistant coach Rajib Dutta told AFP. “Many more to come I hope. Bangladesh took the bronze after restricting Pakistan to 64-9 and crawling to their target of 65 in 18.2 overs in their medal playoff.
It meant Pakistan, who won the gold on both previous occasions that cricket was played in the Asian Games, return home empty-handed.
“It’s not a good feeling. We never got enough runs on the board,” said Pakistan coach Mohtashim Rasheed.
