Just over a year after enduring heartbreak at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, India have a golden opportunity to make amends as they take on Sri Lanka in the Gold Medal match of Asian Games 2023 at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field in Hangzhou.
On Monday (September 25), the Women In Blue will have the opportunity to script history as they’ll bag India’s first gold medal of Asian Games 2023 with a victory. As it stands, at the time of writing this piece, India have bagged five medals in total (3 silver, 2 bronze), all coming in either Rowing or Shooting.
It’s been a breeze so far for team India, who dusted aside Bangladesh in the semi-final after a no result in the quarter-final, but come the final, they will face their toughest test yet in the form of the Chamari Athapaththu-led Sri Lankan side.
Athapaththu’s side have already scripted history by securing Sri Lanka their first medal of the Asian Games 2023. The Island Nation did not win a single medal in the 2018 edition in Jakarta, with their last medal coming back in the 2014 edition in Incheon, a gold in the Men’s cricket event. The Sri Lankan Women’s side won the bronze medal in the 2014 edition, but Athapaththu’s side, this time around, have already bettered the achievement.
If Sri Lanka triumph, it’ll just be their fourth gold medal in the Asian Games in this century (2 in 2002 Busan, 1 in 2014 Incheon).
Everything to play for, then. The stakes are at an all-time high.
Smriti Mandhana did an admirable job leading the side in their thumping semi-final victory over Bangladesh, but normal services will be resumed on Monday as India will have the returning skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who missed both the semis and quarters due to a disciplinary ban. Harmanpreet was banned for two matches following her outburst during and after the tied encounter in the series decider against Bangladesh in July.
Harmanpreet will likely replace Kanika Ahuja, who slotted in the middle-order in both the Bangladesh and Malaysia games.
Monday will be an opportunity for Harmanpreet to finally lead the side to glory after enduring multiple heartbreaks. Under her leadership, India fell short in the final hurdle in both the Commonwealth Games last year and the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2020.
There have been three ‘completed’ knockout matches so far in Asian Games 2023, and all three games have followed pretty much the exact same pattern: the team batting first has struggled immeasurably, posted a hideously low first-innings total, and the score has been chased down comfortably by the chasing side. Sri Lanka won the toss and bowled first in both their knockout games, but Bangladesh paid the price for opting to bat in their semi-final against India.
In the three completed knockout matches so far, there’s been a noticeable difference between bowlers’ effectiveness in the first innings as compared to the second innings.
While bowling first, seamers have taken 10 wickets at an average of 7.7 and an economy of 3.7. In comparison, they’ve been pretty ineffective in the second innings, taking 2 wickets at an average of 27.5 and ER of 6.9.
Likewise, spinners have taken 13 wickets at an average of 9.4 in the first innings, compared to 4 wickets @ 32.8 in the second dig.
Regardless of whether this disparity is due to the pitch getting better to bat on or due to the team bowling second getting consumed by scoreboard pressure, it seems a given that the team winning the toss in the final will prefer to bowl first.
This might just turn out to be one of those encounters where winning the toss equates to winning the match.
Jemimah Rodrigues is yet to be dismissed in Asian Games 2023. On Sunday (September 24), she followed up her unbeaten 47 against Malaysia with an unbeaten 20 to guide the team over the line against Bangladesh. air jordan 6 retro 'georgetown'
Sri Lanka have three players who have taken 3+ wickets in this Asian Games so far: Inoshi Priyadharshani (5), Kavisha Dilhari (3) and Udeshika Prabodhani (3). Left-arm seamer Prabodhani took a match-winning three-fer in the semis against Pakistan. Dilhari, the off-break bowler, has meanwhile taken 8 wickets in her last 5 T20Is, dating back to the T20Is against England. Dilhar, in fact, has taken at least one wicket in each of her last 8 T20Is. air jordan 6 retro women's shoe