“C’mon girls, bring the cup home” – Fans react after Jemimah Rodrigues and Hemalatha help India beat Sri Lanka in Women's Asia Cup

A clinical performance from Jemimah Rodrigues and Dayalan Hemalatha helped India Women beat Sri Lanka Women by 41 runs in their opening fixture in the Asia Cup opener in Sylhet on Saturday (October 1).

Sent in to bat, the Women in Blue scored 150/6 in 20 overs as Jemimah smashed 76 runs off 53 balls. She hit six and 11 fours in her entertaining knock. India captain Harmanpreet Kaur also contributed 33 runs.

Oshadi Ranasinghe was the pick of the bowlers for the Sri Lanka Women. She finished with figures of 3/32. Sugandika Kumari and Chamari Athapaththu took one wicket each.

In reply, Sri Lanka Women were bowled out for 109 runs in 18.2 overs. Dayalan Hemaltha picked up three wickets, while Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar took a couple of wickets each. Radha Yadav also settled for a wicket.

Fans on Twitter were delighted with the Women in Blue continuing the red-hot form in the Asia Cup that helped them win the ODI series against England. Here are some of the reactions:

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"Nothing like coming back and playing for India" - Jemimah Rodrigues after being named Player of the Match

Jemimah made a stellar comeback to the team in this game after being ruled out of the recently concluded white-ball series against England due to an injury. She was named Player of the Match for her match-winning knock against the Islanders.

“Six months I did not touch my bat, was tough not doing the thing I love and seeing everyone else do it. But everyone helped me, my parents, coaches and my trainers, I wanted to thank them. Nothing like coming back and playing for India.”

Skipper Harmanpreet also hailed the batter for working on her fitness during her stint at NCA in Bengaluru.

“After losing crucial wickets, Jemi [Jemimah] played really well, that’s what we were expecting from her. It was not easy after coming back from injury, but we backed her during her tough times and she worked hard in the NCA as well.”

India Women will next be in action against minnows Malaysia in Sylhet on Monday (October 3).

The Women in Blue are the most successful team in the Women’s Asia Cup, having won six titles in seven editions. However, they ended up as runners-up in the last edition of the tournament.