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In scenes equally historic and poignant, the Indian women's cricket team stood on the top podium at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field in Hangzhou to receive their country's first gold medal in the sport at the 2023 Asia Games.
Randhir Singh, the interim leader of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), presented the medals. All-rounder Pooja Vastrakar, who played a key role in the final got the first while skipper Harmanpreet Kaur received her's last. Every member also received a small bouquet of flowers. The ceremony was followed by the Indian national anthem.
Here's a video of the moment:
India won the Asian Games final by defeating Sri Lanka by 19 runs. Batting first, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues put up a defiant stand for the second wicket to take the score to 116/7 on a challenging batting track.
In response, Sri Lanka started well, with skipper Chamari Athapaththu hitting Deepti Sharma for a six and a four in the first over. But Vastrakar's second over caused a bit of disturbance as the right-arm pacer extracted some awkward bounce from the surface.
Young pacer Titas Sadhu used that pressure plus her stunningly accurate line and length to send back Sri Lanka's top three in her first two overs. Indian spinners sprung into action soon after to keep Sri Lanka down to 97/8.
Cricket became a medal sport at the Asian Games in 2010. The BCCI didn't send men and women teams that year and in the next edition in 2014. Both women's editions were won by Pakistan. The 2018 Asian Games didn't include cricket at all.
"It's an amazing feeling" - Jemimah Rodrigues on winning the first Indian cricket medal at Asian Games
After the match, Rodrigues talked about her feelings following the historic achievement.
"(It) feels great. Just to win the gold is special, and being the first Indian cricket side to win the gold will make people go back in history and see that this was the team that actually won the first-ever gold in cricket in the Asian Games. It's an amazing feeling," she said.
Rodrigues also said her team has urged the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led men's team to follow their lead and win gold as well. They'll play their first match on October 3.
