Indian eves rout Lanka by 8 wickets for Asia Cup hat-trick

Jaipur, Dec 21 (UNI) Hosts India created history by winning their third straight Asia Cup title after spanking Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the final at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here today.

India had won the earlier two editions of the tournament in Sri Lanka and Pakistan and on each occasion, Sri Lanka finished second.

After skittling out the visitors for a paltry 93 in 44.1 overs, India cantered to the victory target in just 27.5 overs, losing only two wickets.

Sunetra Paranjpe guided India to the win with a sedate unbeaten knock of 35, which also earned her the Woman of the Match award, while captain Mithalia Raj was unbeaten on 17.

Opting to bat first, the Lankan eves soon found themselves in a morass, losing wickets at regular intervals even though there was no demon in the pitch.

For the visitors, only C Golampala (22), SD Alwis (11) and S Weerakkody (17) could reach the double figure as the Indian trio of Jhulan Goswami (2/230, Rumeli Dhar(2/11) and Devika Palshikar (2/16) ran through the rival line-up.

India did not have a sound start either, losing Sulakshana Naik (16) and Trish Kamini (13) early before Paranjpe and Mithali joined hands to guide the side to their title hat-trick.

Paranjpe hit four boundaries in his 59-ball knock, while Mithali played a patient 34-ball knock which included just one hit to the fence.

Trish Kamini and Sri Lankan D De Silva shared the Womam of the Series award.

scoreboard: Sri Lanka D Desilva lbw b Goswami 2 C Golampala Palshikar b Dimri 22 S Siriwardhane b Dhar 1 I Galageora b Dhar 4 SD Alwis run out 11 Lokusuriya run out 9 D Mandora c Naik b Palshikar 3 S Dolawatte b Palshikar 1 Abeysinghe not out 3 Weerakkody b Goswami 17 N Kumari c Dimri b Paranjpe 1 Extras (B-3, LB-4, NB-2, W-10) 19 Total (All out in 44.1 overs) 93 Fall of wickets: 1/4 2/18 3/30 4/51 5/59 6/62 7/66 8/67 9/92 Bowling: Jhulan Goswami 4-0-23-2 Rumeli Dhar 7-3-11-2, S Paranjpe 5.1-0-16-1 R Goyal 8-4-7-0 Priti Dimri 10-6-12-1 D Palshikar 6-0-16-2 Trish Kamini 4-3-1-0 India: S Naik c N Kumari b Polgampala 16 T Kamini run out 13 S Paranjpe not out 35 Mithali Raj not out 17 Extras (B-1, LB-5, W-8) 14 Total (For two wickets in 27.5 overs) 95 Fall of wickets: 1/34 2/52 Bowling: S Weerakkody 4-0-13-0 Niroshi Kumari 4-1-10-0 C Polgampala 7-0-22-1 E Lokusuriya 3-0-11-0 S Siriwardhane 6.5-0-22-0 S D Alwis 3-0-11-0 UNI