INDW vs. SLW
Reflexes
- Jemima Rodríguez played an important inning in the second leg
- Deepti Sharma put on a full performance
- The Indian team took a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20 series
The Indian women’s cricket team started the tour of Sri Lanka with a resounding victory. Team India won the first T20 match against Sri Lanka by 34 runs based on Jemima Rodriguez’s unbeaten innings and Deepti Sharma’s complete performance. The India team, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, successfully defended the small score of 138 runs. With this win, India also took a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka.
Radha Yadav and Deepti’s Great Bowling
Chasing India’s 139 runs, the Sri Lankan team got off to a poor start. Deepti Sharma got India off to a good start when opener V Gunaratne (nil) was ruled out in the second over. The senior spinner bowled brilliantly on the power play and took a wicket for nine runs in three overs with a maiden. Chamari Atapattu and Harshita Madavi tried to manage the innings together, but Radha Yadav hit Sri Lanka once again by firing both players on two balls.
Kavisha Dilhari fought alone for the hosts and remained unbeaten on 47 of 49 balls. But except him, no other player could do much against the Indian bowlers and the Sri Lankan team could only score 104 runs from 20 overs for the loss of five wickets. Radha Yadav took two wickets for India, while Deepti, Pooja and Shefali got one wicket each.
Jemima and Deepti played important innings
Earlier, India won the toss and decided to bat first. Facing the disciplined bowling of Sri Lanka, India scored 138 runs from six wickets aided by Rodriguez’s 36 runs on 27 balls. India lost the wicket to opener Smriti Mandhana (01) in the third over of the innings. The 25-year-old Indian player became a victim of the experienced Oshadi. Sabhinene Meghna couldn’t add a single run and the experienced Ranasinghe sent her to the locker room.
The pressure on the team was clearly visible after losing two wickets early on in hot and humid conditions. The couple from Harmanpreet and Shefali Verma handled this delicate situation. Shefali (31 runs) was the third player to be sacked by Atapattu. Captain Harmanpreet scored 22 runs in the 11th and was fired earlier by Inoka Ranaveera. Ranaveera took two more wickets to his name, taking wickets from goalkeeper-batsman Richa Ghosh (11) and Pooja Vastrakar (14) to take six wickets in the visitors’ 17 overs, while his score was just 106 runs. . Back in the team, Rodriguez played the responsibility of leading India to a respectable score. Rodríguez, who came out to bat at number five, was not pressured and scored important runs for the team. He hit three fours and a six and at the other end, Deepti Sharma added 17 runs on eight balls.