Women’s Asia Cup final today:

India brimming with confidence as Sri Lanka try to make amends

By Chinthana WASALA in Kurunegala

CRICKET: Everything is set for the final of the Fourth Women’s Asia Cup Cricket Tournament which will take place at the Welagedera Stadium in Kurunegala today.

Sri Lanka will meet India for the third successive occasion in a final of a Women’s Asia Cup.

With the tournament’s best players with the bat and the ball making their places secured in the two teams, the final is set to be a highly enthusiastic one for the healthy amount of spectators at Welagedera Stadium.

India, unbeaten in the tournament, will be a great challenge for the home team. So far in this year’s Asia Cup, Sri Lanka has lost to India in both of their meetings, by 29 runs at Dambulla and by stunning 84 runs at Kurunegala. Sri Lanka and India have met in three finals in the previous versions of the Women’s Asia Cup finals, but this time a tougher game is ahead of the home team.

But the last game before the final in Welagedera, saw Sri Lankan women at their best. The home team showed they have done a lot of homework on fielding, batting and bowling after winning that by nine wickets. In the previous games, Lankans did not give off their best when it came to fielding. But the Bangladesh encounter saw the least amount of fielding mistakes.

The best run-getters in the tournament will meet today. Mithali Raj, the Indian skipper who is the only centurion in this tournament, heads the rankings followed by Dedunu Silva, the Sri Lankan opener.Indian bowling attack looks stronger with the top two bowlers in the tournament P. Seema and Julan Goswami both having 11 wickets each. Chamari Polgampola and Sewini de Alwis are in the third and fourth slots with nine wickets each.

So, without any doubt, the final will be a match to remember.

A great location for the final

Earlier on, the Indian team management requested the SLC to shift the venue of the final to Rangiri Dambulla Stadium due to the less facilities in Welagedera than the Dambulla Stadium. But the SLC did not change their plan to host the final at the same venue.

Welagedera Stadium will be a great location for the final as a considerable number of spectators were seen throughout the tournament to witness the women’s cricket, far more than it was in Dambulla.

The players too were happy to play in front of a large crowed other than playing in front of empty stands.

With not much of International cricket seen at the Welagedera Stadium Kurunegala, the cricket lovers are eagerly waiting for a final of a colourful and a successful tournament to be played in front their eyes.