Women's Asia Cup 2022: Deepti Sharma reflects on India's title victory

Deepti Sharma and Smriti Mandhana during Women's Asia Cup 2022 [Source: Twitter]

Deepti Sharma expressed her delight with the team's all-round performances to lift the Women's Asia Cup 2022 title. India secured an eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka on Saturday (October 15) at Sylhet. 

Batting first, Sri Lanka their key batters Chamari Athapaththu (6) and Harshitha Madavi (1) early, which put them under the pump. The contributions from Inoka Ranaweera (18) and Oshadi Ranasinghe (13) helped them post 65 on the board. 

Renuka Singh was the pick of the bowlers for the Women in Blue with three scalps, while spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Sneh Rana bagged two wickets each. 

In response, Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana started on a conservative note. However, the third over of the game witnessed Mandhana stepping on the gas and increasing the tempo of the chase. 

However, the dismissals of Verma (5) and Jemimah Rodrigues (2) certainly put India in a spot of bother, but captain Harmanpreet Kaur provided stability. 

In the end, Mandhana remained unbeaten on 51 off 25, while Kaur scored 11 off 14, as the Women in Blue clinched their seventh Asia Cup title. 

Deepti was named as Player of the Tournament for her contribution of 13 wickets and 94 runs in eight matches. 

In the post-match presentation, the 25-year-old reckoned the team has reaped benefits of working hard off-field. Moreover, she thinks the title victory will give them confidence for the upcoming series. 

"Really happy with the way we performed as unit from the first game till today. We executed what was discussed in the meeting. The wickets were slow and before this tournament, I worked a lot on my batting and those sessions really helped me. This win gives us a lot of confidence going into the upcoming series as well."

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