A lot of hard work to be done, won’t forget this loss, says Harmanpreet Kaur after losing T20 Asia Cup title

Indian women’s team captain Harmanpreet Kaur said the Women’s T20 Asia Cup final loss against Sri Lanka will be remembered for a long time and added that hard work is the only way out from the loss.

Sri Lanka beat India by eight wickets to bag their maiden Asia Cup title.

India batted first and scored 165/6 in their 20 overs and later Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu (62) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (69*) steered their team to their first Asia Cup title.

This is India’s second title loss in the Asia Cup. India lost the 2018 edition to Bangladesh.

Speaking to the media after the match, Harmanpreet lauded Sri Lanka for playing good and consistent cricket and said India has to do a lot of hard work. “We are looking to improve in some areas. We will definitely work hard and remember this day. They (Sri Lanka) have played such good cricket for so long and they played good cricket throughout this tournament. We played good cricket throughout the tournament and, no doubt, we made a lot of fumbles today and that cost us. It was a decent total, we were looking for breakthroughs in the powerplay but it didn’t go according to plan and Sri Lanka batted really well,” Harmanpreet said.

Athapaththu was relieved and delighted after her team’s win. “I am really happy about our team performance, especially the batting performances, especially Harshitha and Dilhari. We have played really good cricket in the last 12 months and we want to continue it. Never saw such a crowd, so special thanks go to the Sri Lankan people who came out to watch the game. This win is good not only for the team but the whole Sri Lanka because we have to inspire the next generation,” the Sri Lanka captain said.

The teams will next be in action in the ICC T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in Bangladesh, in a couple of months time.