Analysing the Women’s T20 Asa Cup 2020’s team performances and the positives and negatives for each side as they all faced their own challenges and struck their own surprises!
Filled with surprises and filled with youthful performances – the Women’s Asia Cup, delayed by 2 years, was filled with mega stuff. There were some surprises thrown around with a defeat for India in a league stage match, and Thailand beating Pakistan before qualifying for the Semi – Finals, the second one involved a bit of fortune sure but still happened. All of this ended up in what was probably one of the least competitive matches of the tournament with India dominating all around.
MALAYSIA & UAE BOW OUT BUT WITH A FIGHT AND RESPECTFULLY
Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates were two teams with the youngest of players and least amount of experience at the big stages, but they proved themselves well. They both did finish bottom of the table but gave some fine performances made murky by their fielding which is pulling them down. They have gotten players who either possess talent or natural features that allows them to deliver some very disciplined and tough performances, but the fielding has been let down by the lack of skilling in that department. The technique of fielding which covers the way to set a field, track the ball and complete all kinds of catch is essential to a victory especially for smaller teams who rely more on restricting opposition to a smaller score and take part in low scoring thriller encounters.
UAE especially has gotten bowlers like Mahika who are good with their idea of where to bowl the deliveries and have some proper execution but need to hone a bit more of swinging and surprise skills, Mahika specifically is also helped by her height with most Asian teams not having very tall players. Both sides struggle with batting but that extra bowling edge helped UAE defeat Malaysia to rack up their only victory of the tournament.
BANGLADESH STRUGGLE
Apart from the point they haven’t had much luck on their side with them missing out on the semi – finals due to a rained out match, and also having more meet ups with rain, but that does not take away from their dismal performance. The glimmers of hope seen in ODIs a while back has never appeared in the T20Is. They beat Thailand and Malaysia but lost out to the 3 top teams by significant margins with India not even playing its first choice playing XI.
Bangladesh were unable to score at a high strike rate even against Malaysia, arguably the team worst off in the tournament. They senior batters have not been able to play the required shots from the get-go and most of the batters don’t settle in to be able to score quick enough in the T20Is. The one notable innings was by Shamima Sultana in the match against Thailand. They can score at about 5 runs per over easily but trying to accelerate caused their downfall each time except in that one innings.
THAI LAND
Crushed by India in the League Stage, but they did beat Pakistan! The contrast between the two matches is the story of Thailand. Against Pakistan they were chasing. Against India they were setting a target. Against Pakistan, they had a required run rate of less than 6 runs per over, Against India they had to set as high a target as possible. Against Pakistan, they had Chantham bat through majority of the innings India picked wickets regularly starting with the top batters. That is the story of Thailand.
PAKISTAN
Missed out on the Finals by one run after having been the second-best team in the tournament throughout. A one run loss in the Semi – Finals to Sri Lanka after completing a league stage campaign which included 5 victories, and one defeat to Thailand. In many aspects including bowling, a better side than the eventual runners – up but it was against the same Sri Lankan side that Pakistan lost out against in the semi – final by one run even after being given a life in the final over by a missed run out opportunity. Pressure weakness was apparent, but a more experienced make-up of the side meant that it allowed them to deal a few big blows and it was about the close margins for them.
If they would have had that two extra runs to win in the Semi – Final, the title of being the Asia Cup champions would still be a bit more of a far dream as in the final, not just did India come out with all guns blazing especially with the ball but also Pakistan’s earlier victory had India not playing their first choice XI
SRI LANKA
Dealt a couple of blows with some key players missing out, Atthapathu needed to perform consistyently and play majority of all overs in the innings, almost like Devine did for the Scorchers in the WBBL in the 2021 season, but that is not what happened in the major matches such as the ones against India twice. The bowling was quite decent with there not being major errors in that department overall as bowlers were never, except against India, hit out for a major run haul, it was more about the finer margins for Sri Lanka, against the top 2 sides in the League Stage.
In the finals, the pitch and the conditions allowed for there to be swing and also movement off the pitch which trapped the Sri Lankans further after they themselves chose to bat first. India, while chasing was much more comfortable as they did not have to hit every ball to the boundary and faced a couple of those turners that surprised them. Mandhana got comfortable on the pitch and read its pace very well to be able to counteract and play free movement shots which then gave the Lankans no chance. The smartest decision by the Lankans came in the middle overs when their main aim became to survive as that potentially saw them get atleast a few more runs, especially in the death overs as they had that extra wicket in hand and the bowlers were made to tire in the sun a bit.
INDIA
The favorites, who had a surprise loss in the 2018 edition finals to Bangladesh, had a simple close slip – up which they later stated was because of “underestimating” their opponents from Pakistan. The most impressive play from India in the whole tournament, which shows their dominance, was the selection of the Playing XIs for each match with Mandhana captaining most of the matches and there being a change in the team every match, not because of injuries but because India tried every resource they had and gave them gametime and everyone performed atleast decently at a minimum. The positives included the return of Rodrigues into the Playing XI and the continuation of consistency, and the confidence build for Kaur and the bowlers.
India learned from the matches and in the final, it was the most refined performance of the tournament from the side with only the match against Thailand being one where the impact of the bowling line – up was higher.
All in all, it was a tournament of some spectacular surprises and performances but at the end the team with the most experience and talent, who were the favorites, made the stride back to regain the title of being the Asian Champions in Women’s T20 cricket!
spielens 