Saturday 21 / December / 2024
Dubai: Fine fifties from captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana and fiery spells from Asha Shobhana and Arundhati Reddy took India to a commendable victory over Sri Lanka by 82 runs in their Group A match in Dubai on Wednesday.
India are now placed at the second position with four points and they have a net run rate of 0.560 now.
After putting a competitive score of 172/3 on the board in the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, thanks to Mandhana (50) and Kaur's quick 52 off 27 balls, it was for the bowlers to deliver and they did not disappoint.
In the very second ball of the second innings, Renuka Singh dismissed Vishmi Gunaratne for a duck. Sri Lanka was 0/1 in 0.2 overs.
The second wicket fell shortly in the form of the captain Chamari Athapaththu, who only managed a single. She was dimissed by Shreyanka Patil in the 1.5 overs. Sri Lanka was 4/2.
Harshita Samarawickrama was stumpped by Richa Ghosh of Renuka Singh's delivery. She could only manage 3. Sri Lanka was 6/3 in 2.2 overs.
Kavisha Dilhari (21) and Anushka Sanjeewani (20) showed some resistance and stitched a partnership of 37 runs, but it was broken by Asha Sobhana.
Shobhana took wickets of Anushka Sanjeewani, Sugandika Kumari (1), and Inoshi Priyadarshani (1).
Nilakshika Silva (8) and Ama Kanchana (19) were dismissed by Reddy.
She and Shobhana finished with identical figures of 3 wickets for 19 runs in her four overs.
Deepti Sharma picked the final wicket of the Sri Lankan innings in the form of Udeshika Prabodhani (9).
Spinners Shreyanka Patil and Deepti Sharma picked one wicket each.
Sri Lanka were bundled out for 90 runs in 19.5 overs.
The Indian women's team will face the defending champions Australia on October 13 in Sharjah.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was adjudged the player of the match for her blitz knock.
Brief score: India: 172/3 (Harmanpreet Kaur 52, Smriti Mandhana 50; Ama Kanchana 1/29) vs. Sri Lanka: 90 all out (Kavisha Dilhari 21, Anushka Sanjeewani 20; Asha Sobhana 3/19).
