Indian women stamp their dominance and superiority against a hapless Sri Lankan bowling attack to win the finals by 97 runs

India's ton up Smriti Mandhana Player of the Match

To conceed 342 runs in 50 overs, that too in home conditions indicates that Sri Lankan Women have plenty on their plate to put right to be competitive against top teams with the World Cup at hand.

It was a lesson that Sri Lanka women learnt from the Indian batting cordon of the meaning of assessing the pitch before execution and improvisation even during the power play overs.

The 50-over format is very different from the quick fire T 20 game.

Indian women with Smriti Mandhana 116, Jemmima Rodrigues, Haleem Deol, and Hampreet Kaur getting into the 40s with Deepthi Sharma also contributing 20 proved the Indian batting depth.

Indian batters were conservative in the 15th over losing just 1 wicket for 70 runs. Once they assessed the bounce, the grip, and studied that Sri Lankan spinners bowled quicker deliveries as opposed to flight, grip, and spin, they cartered 29t boundaries and 4 maximums to stitch the second highest one day total of 342 with all top order batters making merry on a humid Colombo day.

Truth hurts, but Sri Lanka was never in the hunt against the Indian seam and spin. 343 as a target is herculean for a batting cordon like Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has talent with Chamarie Attapaththu, Harshitha Samarawickrema,
Nilukshika Silva , Vishmi Gunaratne, and Kavisha Dilhari.

The missing link in these players is their consistency against top teams and lacking that intent to score big when given the opportunity.

Athapaththu is a fine batter, the reason she did not find favour for any franchise in the WIPL was because of her flash in the pan brilliance and the lack of consistency. Quote Franchise owners of WIPL, unquote.

To be thumped by 97 runs in a final is a heartbreak, but at least it indicates the reality, including the important prerequisites when competing with the best.