Asian Games Sri Lanka's first Gold medal in cricket

The Sri Lankan Men’s team clinched gold in cricket in the Asian Games 2014, by beating Afghanistan by 68 runs today. The final was played between Sri Lanka, who won the semifinal against Bangladesh through a toss, after the game was washed off, and Afghanistan, who beat Hong Kong in the other semifinal by 8 wickets.

Sri Lankan skipper Lahiru Thirimanne won the toss and elected to bat first on a slow tacky wicket that had been worn down by the many matches played in the Asian Games. There was a large gathering of crowd, mostly Sri Lankan in the stadium to witness the final. More than 1000 fans thronged the stadium with both Afghan and Sri Lankan flags, vouching for the reach cricket has even in the remotest part like South Korea in the cricketing map.

The Sri Lankan fans rushed to into the middle climbing over barriers and escorted the gold medal winners to the pavilion. Chandimal was carried on shoulders by the Lankan contingent, bringing in memories of the cricket matches in the 80s.

This was Sri Lanka’s first Gold medal in cricket and Afghanistan settled for a silver for the second successive time in the Asian Games. This medal was the second medal and first gold medal Sri Lanka won in this year’s Asian Games. Earlier Sri Lankan women’s team bagged a bronze in the same sport.

The Gold medal now takes Sri Lanka to the position of 26th in the medal table, having won a gold and a bronze.

Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka 133 all out in 19.1 overs (Thirmanne 57*, Chandimal 33; Nabi 4/18) beat  Afghanistan 65 all out in 17.4 overs (Tarakai 17, Qaseem Khan 12; Jeevan Mendis 3/13) by 68 runs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ish_UZVojmo