The Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian women’s team recently participated in the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2024. They ended up as the runners-up of the tournament courtesy of an eight-wicket defeat against the hosts, Sri Lanka in the final. The Women in Blue had an impressive campaign as they were unbeaten throughout the league stages of the tournament. They topped Group A with three victories from three games.
They were up against Bangladesh led by skipper Nigar Sultana in the first semi-final. Women in Blue got over the line by 10 wickets to book a spot in the final. They were up against Sri Lanka led by skipper Chamari Athapathu in the final. The hosts defeated Pakistan in an edge-of-the-seat thriller by three wickets in the 2nd semi-final to book their spot for the title clash against the Harmanpreet-Kaur-led side. India posted a competitive total of 165/6 in their quota of overs after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bat first in the final.
However, a spirited performance from the Sri Lankan batters, saw the hosts chase down the 166-run total with eight wickets in hand and eight balls to spare. It was also Sri Lanka’s first-ever ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup title.
India was outplayed in all three departments by the hosts Sri Lanka and eventually, the side who played their best cricket on the day went away with the glory.
Things that went wrong for India in the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2024
Lack of contribution from India’s number 3:
The 29-year-old top-order batter Dayalan Hemalatha had an impressive return to the Indian team after being out of the set-up for a year in 2023. She had returns of (41*, 9, 22, and 37) in an away series against Bangladesh in April-May this year. Her performances in that series earned her a spot in the squad for the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2024 in Sri Lanka.
However, she failed to deliver in the recently concluded ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. She had returns of (14, 2, and 47) in three innings. Two of her three innings came while batting at number three. She was promoted to open the innings alongside Shafali Verma against Nepal. The move was made in order to provide her with an opportunity to express herself freely at the top of the order in the powerplay. However, her promotion at the top didn’t seem to work out, as she had a scratchy knock (47 off 42 balls), after which she was replaced by a 22-year-old wicket-keeper batter Uma Chetry.
The young wicket-keeper batter was straight away inserted into the big stage under pressure in a knockout game. An unbeaten opening partnership between Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana took India over the line in the 1st semi-final against Bangladesh. As a result, she had to wait for her opportunity under the sun, at the big stage. She was impressive during her short seven-ball stay at the crease in the final against Sri Lanka.
Lapses in the Field:
The Indian team was impressive in the field or rather wasn’t challenged much in that particular department during the league stages of the tournament. However, they were below par in the field against Sri Lanka in the final. As a result, they failed to build pressure on the Sri Lankan batters while defending a 166-run total.
They also went onto drop a couple of catches, both of the 26-year-old left-hand batter Harshitha Samarawickrama, when she was on 26 (off 24 balls) and 47 (off 40 balls). She capitalized on both opportunities and made India pay big time, for the dropped chance. She eventually went on to take her side over the line by staying unbeaten on 69* (51 balls) as Sri Lanka sealed their maiden ACC Women’s Asia Cup title.
Apart from the dropped catches, India also missed out on the opportunity to send ominous Kavisha Dilhari back to the pavilion courtesy of a run-out chance. Fumbles on the field, under pressure, took the steam out of the Indian unit, which clearly reflected in their body language on the field towards the fag end of the run chase.
India would be keen to iron out all the chunks and refine their armory before they head to Bangladesh in a couple of months time for the upcoming 9th edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. The tournament will commence on 3rd October 2024 and will conclude on 20th October 2024. India will kickstart their T20 World Cup campaign on 4th October 2024 against New Zealand in Sylhet from 6:30 PM IST.