Teen pacer Titas Sadhu is quickly turning out to be the player for big occasions. In January, she set the tone by jolting England’s top-order in India’s win in the U-19 World Cup. Seven months on, the speedster starred in another final as the Women In Blue claimed a maiden Asian Games gold with a 19-run win over Sri Lanka.
Defending a modest 117 at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field on Monday, Titas’ pace was too hot to handle for the Sri Lankans. After Deepti Sharma gave away 12 runs in her opening over, Harmanpreet Kaur, returning after the ban, turned to Titas (who is four days shy of her 19th birthday) who obliged her captain with a wicket of the first ball.
Anushka Sanjeewani miscued a shot to mid-off and two balls later, Titas went through Vishmi Gunaratne’s defence to disturb her stumps.
In her second over, the experienced Chamari Athapaththu fell looking to take on the youngster as Titas’ first spell read 3-1-2-3 before she finished with 4-1-6-3.
After Titas’ hostile spell, Sri Lanka rebuilt with Hasini Perera and Nilakshi de Silva by taking on the Indian spinners.
Nilakshi and Oshadi Ranasinghe got their side close to the target as Sri Lanka needed 43 off 30 balls before Harmanpreet brought on Titas, who cleaned up Nilakshi with a yorker. The spinners then came on to ensure victory.
Earlier in the afternoon, Sri Lanka choked India by using spin. After a restrained start, Shafali Verma stepped out to left-arm orthodox Sugandika Kumari only to be stumped.
Jemimah Rodrigues, who has been the top batter in the Games with 109 runs, and Smriti Mandhana came together to add 73 runs in 67 balls for the second wicket. Jemimah (42 off 40 balls) used her feet well, while Smriti, who top-scored with a 45-ball 46, was severe on anything short or in the slot.
India scored just 14 runs off the final 21 balls while losing four wickets. In the end, Jemimah’s contribution proved good enough as India defended successfully.
The scores: India 116/7 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 46, Jemimah Rodrigues 42, Udeshika Prabodhani 2/16, Sugandika Kumari 2/30, Inoka Ranaweera 2/21) bt Sri Lanka 97/8 in 20 overs (Hasini Perera 25, Titas Sadhu 3/6, Rajeshwari Gayakwad 2/20). Toss: India.
