While India had defeated Bangladesh by 8 wickets in semifinal 1 of the Women's T20I event in Asian Games at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field, Hangzhou, there was a possibility of an India vs Pakistan final with the Nida Dar-led side up against Sri Lanka in the second semifinal at the same venue. However, Sri Lanka have decimated that chance through their domintaing performance against Pakistan on Sunday (September 24) to set up a gold medal match with India on Monday (September 25). The result also implies Bangladesh and Pakistan will now lock horns in a bronze medal match which is also set to be played on September 25 at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field.
Talking about Pakistan's match against Sri Lanka, the Women from the island nation had everything going their way right from the toss. They elected to bowl first and restricted the opposition to 75/9 in 20 overs. Udeshika Prabodhani was the star performer for Sri Lanka with the ball in hand as she picked up 3 wickets for 21 runs. Kavisha Dilhari also picked 2 wickets for 15 runs while Priyadharshani, Achini Kulasuriya and Ranaweera picked up a wicket each.
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For Pakistan, only three batters could register a score in double figures with Shawaal Zulfiqar (16 off 27), Omaima Sohail (10 off 17) and Muneeba Ali (13 off 16) chipping in but no other batter were up to the mark against the challenge posed by the Sri Lankan bowlers. In the modest run chase, Sri Lanka did take their time but eventually got to their target with 21 balls to spare. Each of the Sri Lankan batter got a a start barring Vishmi Gunaratne who departed for a 1-ball duck.
All others scored useful runs with the openers Chamari Athapaththu, Anushka Sanjeewani scoring 14 off 19 and 15 off 13 respectively. Harshitha Samarawickrama top-scored with 23 off 41 while Nilakshi de Silva made an unbeaten 18 off 23. Hasini Perera was not out on 1 run off 2 balls.