India Women vs Sri Lanka Women: The win snapped a losing streak to India in Twenty20 Internationals that had reached 12 games in a row.
Sri Lanka had never beaten India at home
India had won the last 12 T20Is between the two teams, and Sri Lanka had never beaten India at home. But all of that was put to rest when their captain Chamari Athapaththu led them to a seven-wicket win in Dambulla in the third and final T20I match of the series. After losing the series twice in a row, the home team was able to keep some pride.
Athapaththu’s average in T20Is is 22.57, but when she’s been Sri Lanka’s captain and led her team to a win, her average is 42.61 and her strike rate is 142.41. On Monday, she showed her best work.
Deepti over long-off for the only six of the chase
Sri Lanka started its chase of 139 by going on the attack. In the first over, young Vishmi Gunaratne hit Renuka Singh for a four over midwicket. But she lost the game after two balls, and Athapaththu took over. In the fourth over, she hit her first boundary with a shaky slice, but the next ball, when she danced down and hit the off spinner down the ground, she was more in control. The attack kept going when she hit Radha Yadav with a hard cut four and then hit her again with a sweep through the backward square leg. India Women vs Sri Lanka Women
In the last over of the power play, the dangerous left-hander slid down the track and hit Deepti over long-off for the only six of the chase. Instantly, she had 28 runs off 15 balls, and Sri Lanka ended that phase with 47 runs for 2.
De Silva struck Pooja Vastrakar down
Athapaththu found a solid companion in Nilakshi de Silva, and they killed the chase by mixing caution and ferocity. De Silva struck Pooja Vastrakar down and Simran Dil Bahadur over the on side. India’s poor fielding helped Sri Lanka. Athapaththu’s mistimed slog to deep midwicket from Bahadur was spilled by Jemimah Rodrigues, and off the very next ball she brought up her fifth half-century.
Athapaththu and de Silva made 77 runs in 57 balls, Sri Lanka’s greatest third-wicket stand. Athapaththu stayed in the center to help Sri Lanka beat India. She finished unbeaten on 80 off 48 balls thanks to fielding errors. India Women vs Sri Lanka Women
Harmanpreet Kaur and Rodrigues to keep India going in the right direction
On a surface that looked good for batting, India’s batsmen couldn’t find their footing and could only score 138 runs, which was not enough. Smriti Mandhana had a hard time getting 22 out of 21, and Oshadi Ranasinghe beat her for the second time in three games.
Sabbhineni Meghana hit three clean fours, but Sri Lanka’s slow bowlers made it hard for her to keep moving the ball. Again, it was up to Harmanpreet Kaur and Rodrigues to keep India going in the right direction. The pair put together 64 runs for the fourth wicket, but it took 56 balls to do so. This meant that India had no momentum going into the last few overs.
Harmanpreet Kaur stayed unbeaten
In the 19th over, Rodrigues was out for 30 when he tried to hit Ama Kanchana over short fine leg with a scoop. India got closer to the 140 mark, which was enough in the first T20I, thanks to Vastrakar’s 13 runs off of six balls. At the other end, Harmanpreet stayed unbeaten with 39 runs off of 33 balls. India Women vs Sri Lanka Women
