Mandhana's fifty propels India to 165/6 against SL in women's Asia Cup final

Dambulla: Smriti Mandhana’s conditions-defying half-century powered India to a fighting 165 for six against Sri Lanka in the women’s Asia Cup final here on Sunday.

Mandhana (60, 47b, 10x4), Jemimah Rodrigues (29, 16 balls, 3x4, 1x6) and Richa Ghosh (30, 14 balls, 4x4, 1x6) led defending champions India’s tight contest against a plethora of Lankan spinners after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur decided to bat.

In fact, the home side included only one pacer in their ranks – Udeshika Prabodhani and the rest were slow bowlers.

The Lanka bowlers indeed made good use of a slow pitch as well, often strangling the otherwise free-flowing Indian batters.

It was evident from the struggles of Shafali Verma (16, 19 balls), who found it difficult to time her shots.

Mandhana had a massive slice of fortune early in the innings as her weak chip off spinner Kavisha Dilhari was put down at covers by Harshitha Samarawickrama.

The left-hander made the hosts pay for that mistake with some gorgeous shots, especially against Prabodhani whom she carted for three fours in the sixth over as India reached 44 for no loss.

But Verma soon fell leg before to Dilhari after getting pinged on her pads while trying a tweak to the on-side.

As the Power Play came to an end, Mandhana had to resort to some improvisations such as scoops behind the stumper to get her boundaries.

The Indian vice-captain also often had to make room for herself or shuffle across the stumps to find the ropes because the ball was not exactly coming on to her bat.

While Mandhana managed to beat the slowness of the deck, it consumed Harmanpreet and Uma Chetry, who got a promotion to No. 3.

At 87 for three in the 12th over, India needed a move-on and it was given by an aggressive Rodrigues in the company of Mandhana, making 41 runs off 25 balls for the fourth wicket.

However, the run out of Rodrigues and the dismissal of Mandhana pushed India to 133 for five in 16.5 overs.

Ghosh played a typical swift innings that contained a massive slog-swept six off Dilhari over the mid-wicket.

In the company of Pooja Vastrakar, Ghosh milked 31 runs for the crucial sixth wicket stand that carried India past the 160-run mark, which might require a very strong chase from the Lankans to overhaul.