India secured a convincing 59-run victory over Sri Lanka in the opening match of the Women’s World Cup, held in Guwahati. India’s chase was 271 runs, adjusted by the rain, in a reduced 47 overs. The Indian side proved their tenacity and class, especially after their middle-order were exposed in a rapid collapse.
Batting first, India had started their innings on a high, finishing with a sizeable total of 269 runs for eight wickets. Amanjot Kaur truly was the architect of this chase, scoring 57 runs from 41 balls. The Indian side struggled to get through the middle overs. They lost important wickets early, including that of Smriti Mandhana, dismissed on the boundary for eight runs.
As the match went on, it felt like this was Sri Lanka’s day, as they were cruising at 82-1. Seamer Shabnim Ismail struck back at the end of the 15th over, dismissing Athapaththu, who had opened the batting for 43. This was a key turning point in the game. Athapaththu’s wicket was a result of an outstanding all-round performance by Deepti Sharma, who proved to be magnificent over the course of that game.
Sharma’s bowling figures of 3-54 backed up her half-century with the bat as well. Sneh Rana, alongside Shree Charani, further wreaked havoc on the Thai batting order. They both took 2-for-32 and 2-for-37 in their two wickets apiece.
Though they got off to a great start, Sri Lanka couldn’t build upon their great beginning after losing Athapaththu. While the team set the bar pretty high, they did not meet their revised target. They ended their innings on 211 runs for 8 wickets in their allowed overs.
Harmanpreet Kaur, India’s captain, acknowledged the challenges faced during the match, stating, “It wasn’t an easy game.” Her leadership showed as India huddled after losing important wickets and continued to stick to their plans beautifully.
Inoka Ranaweera, with four wickets for 46 runs, was the star performer with the ball for Sri Lanka. Her bowling was economical and kept Sri Lanka in the fight until the final stages of the innings.
Sri Lanka’s captain Chamari Athapaththu reflected on her team’s performance, noting, “We executed our plans but we dropped a couple of wickets – Amanjot Kaur was disappointing to drop. We made a few mistakes and that has cost us the game.”
Former England spinner Alex Hartley commented on India’s performance, saying, “India have started really nicely. There are some cracks there. They did panic when Smriti Mandhana got out early but it was still a comprehensive win.”
Leave a Reply