Smriti Mandhana expresses her happiness after winning a gold medal in the Asian Games
The Indian team led by Harmanpreet Kaur clinched the gold medal at the Asian Games 2023, marking their maiden win at the competition. The victory came after a hard-fought final against Sri Lanka, where India emerged victorious by a margin of 19 runs.
This historic victory is particularly significant as the Indian cricket team had not participated in the 2010 and 2014 editions of the Asian Games, making this their first-ever gold medal in women's cricket on this prestigious platform. This victory also added to the India gold tally on the same day, following an outstanding performance in the 10m air rifle team event. On a challenging batting pitch, the Indian women's cricket team managed to score 116 runs for the loss of seven wickets, a score considered par for the conditions.
However, the hero of the match turned out to be Titas Sadhu, who was just four days away from her 19th birthday. Titas gave a brilliant performance with the ball, securing figures of 3 wickets for just 6 runs in her spell of 4 overs. Her exceptional bowling played a pivotal role in restricting Sri Lanka to a total of 97 runs for the loss of eight wickets in their allotted 20 overs.