Image Source: Agencies

Rookie pacer Titas Sadhu single-handedly won the gold medal for the Indian women's cricket team on debut as they beat Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the low-scoring final of the Asian Games here on Monday.
Indian women fought back on a tough batting pitch with a score of 116 for seven but narrowly managed a draw.
But the sensational Titas, just four days short of his 19th birthday, bowled a mammoth first spell and finished with brilliant figures of 4-1-6-3. He played an important role in restricting Sri Lanka to 97 for 8 in 20 overs.
He had a capable ally in leg-spinner Devika Vaidya (4-0-15-1) who kept the islanders in check.

Left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad (3-0-20-2) and off-spinner Deepti Sharma (4-0-25-1) were unlucky, but were targeted at the back end as India Women always looked good. . completely under control. . There was one gold medal which India should have won but the standard of cricket was very poor and the nature of the wicket did not help matters.
The skinny titas played fast and kept their score at full to claim three wickets in their first two innings, including opposition captain and their best batsman Chamari Athapaththu (12).

The Indian women's team is missing a true fast bowler from the ranks, with the retirement of Jhulan Goswami and Titas looking like a worthy successor. However, his stuff would be proven when he faced the players from SENA countries.
Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur sensed the slowness of the track and started with spinner Sharma, but left-armer Athapaththu quickly went on the attack, hitting a six and a first over the boundary. The skipper got back his frontline pace from the second match and Titas, playing only his second T20I, got Anushka Sanjeewani (1) to play a high drive without getting the delivery performance. Harmanpreet took a simple catch at mid-off.

The teenager then stepped in for one and bowled Vishmi Gunaratne (0) and cut Athapaththu's length short in the next over. The ball stopped on the stroke and Sharma took his slant shot from the edge of the circle in extra defence.
Sri Lanka rallied from 14 for three but Hasini Perera (25 from 22 balls) then got some quick runs to pass the 50-run mark before Rajeshwari forced him to sweep with glee as Sri Lanka were reduced to 50 for four. . Nilakshi de Silva (23 from 34) and Oshadi Ranasinghe (26 from 19) added 38 runs for the fifth wicket before Vastrakar removed the former and Sharma got the better of the latter when both went for adventurous shots.

Earlier, Harmanpreet's decision to bat first was the right one as the pitch, which was not conducive to batting, slowed down as the game progressed.
It is difficult to pace against slow bowlers on a track like this and the Sri Lankan team had too many such players in their ranks.
Smriti Mandhana (46 off 45 balls), who hit four boundaries and a six, along with Jemimah Rodrigues (42 off 40 balls) added 73 runs for the second wicket.

To combat the slowness, both Mandhana and Rodrigues used the swing stroke with some success. Mandhana looked in good touch until she messed up by taking a quick single and noted that her footwork against the spinner was not as good as her innings at the start.
It was one loose swing too many that caused him to fall. Richa Ghosh started with a six but it didn't last long.

Harmanpreet's lack of playing time was evident as he struggled during his short stay. But in the end, the total was enough to secure the second gold medal of the Games. Brief Score: India 116/7 20 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 46, Jemimah Rodrigues 42). Sri Lanka 97/8 in 20 overs (Hasini Perera 25, Titas Sadhu 3/6).