Hangzhou, 25 September 2023 - They say every run Sri Lanka hits has a silver lining - thus, turned Bronze to Silver. So much so, that the Lankan willow wielding ladies clinched the coveted Silver medal at the 19th Asian Games Women's Cricket today at Hangzhou.

 

It's an insurmountable task to chase a score of 117/6 by the leading women's cricket team in the world - India and score 98/7, especially when the conditions are to bat on a sluggish wicket with uneven bounce. Hasini Perera fought and fought hard for 25 runs off 22 balls while Nilakshika Silva scored 23 off 34 balls. Oshadi Udeshika coming in the middle order entered double figures (19) off 26 balls but it was an uphill task. Finally, Lankans succumbed to a 19 run defeat but nonetheless, it was effort with a silver lining.

 

Meanwhile Indian Women’s Xl won the toss and decided to take the first lease of the batting strip but soon were in trouble when they saw their score readincommanding a tentative 3/102, while two batters Smriti Mandana (46) and J J Rodrigues (33) batted to subdue the Lankan challenge posting a game changing stand of 79 runs partnership. However, Sri Lanka managed to recover in the final half of the match, restricting the Indian score to 116/7. Udeshika Prabhodini (2/16), Sugandika Dasanayaka (2/30) and Inoka Ranaweera (2/21) were among the wickets for Sri Lanka.

 

“First of all, congratulations to Team India once again. We lost a few vital wickets and I believe that’s why we lost today. Hasini, Nilakshika and myself – we got a good start but unfortunately we could not keep that momentum. I told my players 2 messages towards the end - you can’t use pace because of the conditions, so my first message was fight till the end and the second was use smart options. But we take it as an important lesson than a defeat and very soon we will be back”, Captain Athapaththu commented at the press conference.

 

“India were cutting the ball which I believe is suitable for this wicket. India has many fast bowlers but we only have 3, and that is something we are working on”, said Head Coach Rumesh Ratnayake.

 

Howsoever, the most important aspect of today’s game is, Sri Lanka finally broke a 9 year dry spell barring them from Asian Games medals. Today is a day all Sri Lankans can celebrate as a milestone victory that – now, Sri Lanka is back at Asian Games medals!