ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024, IND vs SL: Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana's fifties ensure India a thumping win over Sri Lanka. India move to 2nd spot in points table.
Brief Scores: India vs Sri Lanks, Group A - IND 172/3 (Harmanpreet Kaur 52*, Smriti Mandhana 50, Ama Kanchana 1/29) beat SL (Kavisha Dilhari 21, Asha Shobana 3/19, Arundhati Reddy 3/19) by 82 runs.
India Women took on their Asian rivals Sri Lanka in a repeat of the Asia Cup 2024 final held a few months back. Before coming into this must-win game for both sides, India led the way with 19 wins out of the 25 matches they played with each other.
It is to be noted that Sri Lanka won that Asia Cup final game, and there is a lot to play for both in this game, despite a one-sided head-to-head. In the end, India registered a comprehensive and much-needed win by 82 runs to stay alive in the competition.
Talking points: India’s top order amongst the runs
Team India started on a sorry note, losing pretty badly to NZ in their opening WT20 game. One of the reasons for the debacle was the non-performance of the top order. They did win against Pakistan in the last game, but the batting contributions from the openers were far from ideal.
However, in this game against Sri Lanka, each of the top 3, Shafali, Harmanpreet and Mandhana crossed 40. The trio’s return to form augurs well for India before their mighty clash against Australia.
Read More: Women's T20 WC 2024, IND vs PAK: Patil-Reddy combined 5-31, Kaur's captain's innings take India home
Harmanpreet leads the way with a fiery, unbeaten half-century
Harmanpreet Kaur of India won the toss and opted to bat first, and the opening pair of Shafali Verma & Smriti Mandhana took time to settle in the first few overs. Without taking much risk, the duo added 41 runs in the powerplays. Post that, both these batters increased their pace as the next four overs yielded them 38 runs, and Mandhana got to her half-century in just 36 balls.
Just as they seemed to take control of the proceedings, India lost both in the same over, allowing a chance for Sri Lanka to come back. However, Harmanpreet Kaur kept the scoring rate up as India made 59 runs off the last five overs and 94 in the previous 10, taking the total to 172/3.
Three wicket hauls from Asha Shobana and Arundhati Reddy sink Sri Lanka
India needed to win by a huge margin and started their defense on a positive note, with Renuka Singh removing Vishmi Gunaratne in the very first over. Things got better as they got the big fish, Chamari Athapaththu, who lost her wicket to spinner Shreyanka Patil for one. The “Women in Blue” kept things tight as SL Women could manage just 28 runs in the over phase, losing three wickets.
They kept chipping away with wickets and never allowed the Lankan batters to settle in the Dubai wicket. In the end, Sri Lanka lost the chance and got outplayed, eventually losing by 82 runs.
Statistical Highlights from Ind vs SL, T20 WC 2024
Shafali Verma crossed the 2000 run mark in T20Is in her 83rd innings for India. She is the fifth India women’s batter to cross the landmark in the shortest game format.
Smriti Mandhana went past 500 runs in the Women’s T20 World Cup and became the third India Women batter.
Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana registered the highest opening stand (98) for India Women against Sri Lanka Women in T20Is.
This was also the third-highest opening for India Women in T20 World Cups.
Harmanpreet Kaur becomes the second India Women batter to cross 3500 runs in T20I cricket. Mandhana leads the chart with 3562 runs.
India’s new ball specialist and pace bowler Renuka Singh played her 50th T20I game for the country.
Likewise, Nilashika Silva of Sri Lanka played her 100th T20I game
Points Table Scenario & What's Next
With this monumental 82-run win, India Women jump to second position in Group A points table with NRR of +0.560. They next face Australia on 13 October in another must-win game at Sharjah. On the other hand, Sri Lanka is out of the tournament and will face New Zealand on 12 October at Sharjah.
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