HANGZHOU: Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 6 wickets on Sunday to reach the women’s cricket final at the Asian Games and set up a clash with India.
Pakistan never got going on a tough batting surface affected by days of rain at the Zhejiang University of Technology ground in Hangzhou, and could only muster a below-par 75-9 in their twenty overs.
Left-arm medium pace bowler Udeshika Prabodhani led the Sri Lankan attack with 3 wickets and Kavisha Dilhari took 2 with her off-spin.
Sri Lanka sauntered to their target with twenty-one balls to spare to spark wild celebrations as their enthusiastic players ran onto the field to high-five and hug each other.
Earlier, India routed Bangladesh for 51 on the same ground with all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar, only drafted into the squad as a last-minute replacement, taking 4 wickets.
They wasted no time in racing to an 8-wicket victory with more than eleven overs remaining as Jemimah Rodrigues top-scored with 20 runs not out.
Rodrigues is yet to be dismissed in the Asian Games, scoring 47 unbeaten in the quarter-final against Malaysia, which was later abandoned because of rain.
It was the second time in just over a week that Sri Lankan players had proven party-poopers by preventing a Pakistan-India big cricket final.
Sri Lankan Men’s Team Beat Pakistan
The Sri Lankan men’s team defeated Pakistan in the semi-final of the 50-over Asia Cup in Colombo to prevent a final clash against their fierce rivals India.
