Women's Asia Cup T20: India meet Sri Lanka in final
Defending champions India will take on Sri Lanka in the high-voltage final of the Women's Asia Cup T20 2024. An exciting contest is on the cards as both teams have been unbeaten in the continental tourney so far. While SL's win against Pakistan in the semi-final was a narrow one, all of India's triumphs have been one-sided. Here we look at the match preview.
Venue, pitch report, and streaming details
The Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium has been the venue for the tournament's entirety. It will host the final on July 28 (3:00pm IST). The venue offers a batting-friendly pitch, but spinners have also been dominating the proceedings. Chasing teams have won nine of the 14 games in this tournament. The Star Sports Network will telecast the match, while fans can live-stream it on Disney+Hotstar.
A look at head-to-head record
As per ESPNcricinfo, India dominate the head-to-head record against SL in WT20I cricket. The Women in Blue own a 19-4 lead in 23 concluded matches over this opposition. India also have a perfect record against SL in the Women's Asia Cup, winning all four games. Notably, India won three of the last four editions of the tournament. The title is elusive for SL.
Here are the probable XIs
India Women (Probable XI): Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Uma Chetry, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Tanuja Kanwar, Renuka Thakur Singh. Sri Lanka Women (Probable XI): Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu (c), Harshitha Samarawickrama, Hasini Perera, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandika Kumari, Achini Kulasuriya.
A look at the key performers
With 243 runs at a strike rate of 148.17, Chamari Athapaththu is the leading run-getter of the event. Indian opener Shafali Verma holds the second place with 184 runs, striking at 149.59. Deepti Sharma is currently leading the wicket-taking charts, having scalped nine wickets at an economy of 4.38. SL's Kavisha Dilhari has so far claimed seven wickets while conceding runs at 5.35.
