Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has announced a huge cash prize after the women’s team won the first ever Women’s Asia Cup title. The Sri Lankan women’s team defeated the Indian team to win the title for the first time.
Sri Lanka chased down the 166 runs needed to win with their captain Chamari Athapaththu scoring 61 runs off 43 balls and finishing as the tournament’s top scorer with 304 runs in five matches. Her scores in the tournament were 12, 119*, 49*, 63 and 61, and she dominated the bowlers of all teams. She also took three wickets in the tournament, including one in the final.
Following Sri Lanka’s first ever win at the Women’s Asia Cup, the Sri Lanka Cricket Board announced a prize of $100,000 for the Sri Lankan team and their support staff. It was a great gesture from the board to recognise their efforts. It was also Chamari’s first major win as captain of the team. Meanwhile, the SLC prize is in addition to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) reward.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has announced a $100,000 bounty for the Sri Lankan women’s cricket team as they are now the Asian Champions 🏆🇱🇰#LKA #SriLanka Women’s Asian Cup #CricketTwitter Asian Cup 2024 #Sri Lanka Cricket image.twitter.com/Io2v4DUzmF
This is in addition to the prize money…— Sri Lanka Tweet 🇱🇰 (@SriLankaTweet) July 28, 2024
Meanwhile, BCCI Secretary and ACC President Jay Shah wished the Sri Lankan women’s team their first major title.
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Jay Shah hails Sri Lanka’s Women’s Asian Cup title
Congratulations to Sri Lanka for winning the 2024 Women’s Asian Cup! 🏆They have performed exceptionally well as a unit throughout the tournament and this trophy is well deserved.
My sincere thanks to all participating nations for making this a celebration of cricket.
-Jay Shah (@JayShah) July 28, 2024
“Congratulations to Sri Lanka for winning the #WomensAsiaCup2024! They performed exceptionally well as a team throughout the tournament and this trophy is well deserved. My sincere thanks to all the participating nations for making this a celebration of cricket. #HerStory was truly in the making.” wrote Jay Shah on his official X account.
For the Indian team, it was their second defeat in a Women’s Asia Cup final. They were the defending champions before this tournament. They recorded comfortable wins against all the teams they played against. However, despite their best efforts, they finished second ahead of Chamari Athapaththu and the Sri Lankan team. The cricketers were over the moon with their celebrations. Meanwhile, Chamari, the captain, was seen crying after her team won the final.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, she said that this victory should inspire the next generation of Sri Lankan women cricketers. She further spoke about her defeat and said that her responsibility was to lead from the front.
Sadly, Harmanpreet Kaur’s winning streak as captain in the Women’s Asia Cup in 2024 came to an end. India won by 7 wickets against Pakistan, by 78 runs against UAE, by 82 runs against Nepal, by 10 wickets against Bangladesh. However, their defeat came in the final where they were completely outclassed. The captain also did not have a memorable tournament with the baat as she scored just 82 runs in four innings at a strike rate of less than 120.
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