Colombo: Riding on Asha Rawat's 97, India defeated Sri Lanka by 177 runs in the finals to lift the Asia Cup title of women's cricket.

This was the fourth successive time that the Indian team triumphed in Asia Cup.

Skipper Mithali Raj (66), Rumeli Dhar (50) and Rawat propelled India to an imposing score of 260 at Kurunagela. India then bolwed out the home team for just 83.

After Raj elected to bat, India lost an early wicket when Jaya Sharma was dismissed without scoring by Shiromala Weerakkody.

Rawat and Karu Jain (28) added 71 runs for the second wicket and laid the foundation for a big score. Jain fell to left-arm spinner Suwini de Alwis.

Rawat and Raj scored some quick runs and put on 91 for the third wicket off 89 balls.

Rawat missed out on her maiden ton when she was caught by Chamani Seneviratna off Shashikala Siriwardene. Rawat's 114-ball knock was studded with 12 boundaries and one six.

Dhar then scored a quickfire half-century in 30 balls helping India to a total of 260.

Sri Lanka's captain Siriwardene took four wickets for 53 runs.

Sri Lanka were never really in the hunt during their run chase and collapsed like a pack of cards. Pujare Seema (3-10) and Neetu David (3-11) were the main wicket takers for the winners.

 

Source : IANS