Seven-time champions India lived up to their billing in the ongoing women’s Asia Cup by reaching a ninth-straight final where they will take on hosts Sri Lanka on Sunday.
Pacer Renuka Singh, who emerged one of the architects of India’s fascinating 10-wicket victory in the semifinal against Bangladesh with an early three-wicket burst, said that the team’s focus immediately shifted for Sunday’s summit clash.
“Our aim is to win the final. We’ve played good cricket so far, and we want to win the Asia Cup,” Renuka said.
The 28-year-old returned with impressive figures of 3/10 to leave the Bangladesh team searching for cover immediately after they stepped into the field after opting to bat first. Renuka’s lethal bowling gave India an early advantage, which the Women in Blue held on to secure a smooth passage to the summit clash.
“I am very happy. It was a big match for us, and to do well is a good feeling. The idea is to work on the basics. I executed what we prepared yesterday,” Renuka said after winning the Player of the Match award.
Discussing her match-winning performance, Renuka mentioned how she factored in the wind during her spell.
“Sometimes the wind can be a bit of a challenge. It also helped me at times, but perhaps the wind was too strong today. I wanted to pitch in the right area to make the best use of this wind,” she said.
Renuka’s game-changing spell also helped her to 50 T20I wickets, making her just the eighth Indian woman to achieve the landmark. However, the player wasn’t aware of the feat till it was brought up to her at the press conference.
“Actually, I wasn’t aware of the fact that it was my 50th T20I wicket. Obviously, I’m very happy after contributing to my country’s cause.”
Renuka also detailed her partnership with fellow pacer Pooja Vastrakar, calling it a ‘simple’ understanding between the two, wherein one would back the other by stemming the flow of runs.
“It’s quite simple actually. If she’s picking up wickets, I aim to keep bowling dot balls [to keep up the pressure] from my end. And if I am picking up wickets from my end, she tries to bowl dot balls. So that’s how we develop our partnership,” she said.
On Sunday, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side will look to translate their overwhelming dominance in the women’s Asia Cup to a record-extending eighth title while facing a feisty Sri Lankan side in Dambulla.
India’s openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma have scored well in excess of 100 runs and at a healthy strike-rate of over 140, giving India solidity and quick starts alike at the top. They will hope to continue in the same vein.
The firepower in the top order has resulted in lack of batting time for skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues, and the Indian team management will hope that the experienced duo will come good if the situation demands their services against the hosts.
Harmanpreet has batted just twice in three matches, even though she made a riveting 66 in one of them, while Rodrigues is yet to hit the top gear here in three innings. “They might not have got that much time in the middle, but everyone is working hard at nets, and I am sure they will fire when the time comes,” wicketkeeper batter Richa Ghosh had said.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka too are undefeated in the tournament and they also have scored the biggest victory in terms of runs – a 144-run thrashing of Malaysia in the group stage. While their batting has mainly revolved around skipper Chamari Athapathuthu, who is the leading run-scorer here with 243 runs, the home side will be expecting that the other batters in the team also get their act together against a strong Indian bowling line-up. To put things in context, Rushmi Gunarathne is a distant second among top run-getters with 91 runs.
Sri Lanka’s bowling too offers a similar story, with off-spinner Kavisha Dilhari leading the pack with 7 wickets and a miserly economy rate of 5.35 while the other Lankan bowlers have failed to make an impact as yet. In such a scenario, the home side will require a quick all-round improvement against a settled Indian unit to have any chances of lifting the title.