Renuka and Mandhana guide India to seventh Asia Cup title

India dominated from start to finish to win their seventh Women's Asia Cup title, beating Sri Lanka by eight wickets in Sylhet. Smriti Mandhana, who blazed her way to her first half-century in the competition, and captain Harmanpreet Kaur completed the paltry 66-run chase in the ninth over.
Sri Lanka's 65 for 9 is the lowest total by a side batting first and playing out the full 20 overs in a women's tournament final. India chased it down with 69 balls to spare, which constitutes another record in a women's T20I title clash.
Renuka Singh had a hand in four of Sri Lanka's first five wickets, finishing with 3-1-5-3 and the run-out of the captain Chamari Athapaththu. Sneh Rana and Rajeshwari Gayakwad took two wickets each.
Only a defiant last-wicket partnership between Inoka Ranaweera, who top-scored with her unbeaten 18, and No 11 Achini Kulasuriya helped them avoid getting bowled out. By then the Indian fielders had surrounded the batters in close catching positions, with Harmanpreet deploying only two or three fielders outside the circle.
The final attracted the biggest crowd of the tournament - about 10,000 or so - to the picturesque Sylhet International Stadium. But before half of them had even taken their seats, India had reduced Sri Lanka to 9 for 4 in the fourth over.    -Cricinfo