Women's Asia Cup: India makes history with seventh title with easy win in final

Coming into the final, India was seen as the odds-on favourites against a Sri Lanka side that just about managed to squeeze their way into the last. 

However, not even Harmanpreet Kaur and co. I would have expected such an easy win. They won the match by eight wickets, chasing down a total of 66 to win. 

One can't even say that the toss favoured India, as it was Sri Lanka who won the toss and opted to bat. Skipper Chamari Athapathtu was all smiles after taking that decision. 

However, by the end of the game, it was only the Indians who were smiling at a win that resembled a walk in the park. 

Sri Lanka didn't offer much resistance, and to make things worse, their talisman and main batter, Athapathtu, was first to depart. 

Any chances of Sri Lanka making a massive total now seemed unlikely, but they still had plenty of time – the skipper was dismissed in the third over of the game. 

Yet a complete capitulation is what followed. By the end of the powerplay, they had lost five wickets. By the seventh over, they were six wickets down. 

Rather than India being exceptional, it felt like Sri Lanka was trying its best to throw the final away. But take nothing away from the Indians; they took their chances when it mattered most. 

By the 16th over, Sri Lanka was 43-9. Never mind a total above 50; their batting out the full 20 overs seemed unlikely. 

However, some unexpected fireworks from Inoka Ranaweera propelled Sri Lanka to a total of 65-9, and they managed to bat through the innings, at the very least. 

In response, India lost Shefali Verma (5) and Jemimah Rodrigues (2) early in the chase. But the target was so tiny it barely mattered. 

It helped, of course, that Smriti Mandhana was in fine form. She scored 51* in 25 balls at a strike rate of more than 200. 

Fittingly, it was Mandhana who scored the winning runs with a six that also brought up her fifty. And India was now a seven-time Asia Cup winner. 

 "We didn't want to give them easy runs as every ball is important, proud of the way we performed today," a beaming Harmanpreet said after the match. 

"You have to read the wicket and place the field accordingly. We did that very well and placed the fielders accordingly and that really helped," she added. 

India will doubtless face tougher tests in the future. After all, it is telling that they have played in every single edition of the Asia Cup final and won all but one of those competitions – India is miles ahead of every Asian team. 

But this was a crucial trophy win with about four months to go before the T20 World Cup gets underway – and things can only improve from here on out.