World T20: Smriti Mandhana shines again as Indian women defeat Sri Lanka

World T20: Smriti Mandhana shines again as Indian women defeat Sri Lanka

no photo

|

© Official FB - Indian cricket team

After scoring an unbeaten knock of 71 against Ireland, Smriti Mandhana once again shone with the bat as the Indian women’s team defeated Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the second World T20 warm-up match. Mandhana scored an unbeaten 42 to take the chase across the line at the Chinnaswamy stadium.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 125/4 in 20 overs (Dilani Manodara 43*(35), Eshani Lokusuriyage 34*(20), Deepti Sharma 2/4) lost to India 128/2 in 17.5 overs (Mandhana 42*(28), Vanitha 37(34), Prabhodhani 1/10))

After a comfortable 27-run victory over Ireland in their first warm-up match on Thursday, Mithali Raj’s team went into the match against Sri Lanka hoping to continue their winning run against the Islanders, after beating them 3-0 in the bilateral series few weeks back.

Chasing 126, India got off to a perfect start with skipper Mithali Raj and Vellaswamy Vanitha forming a 46-run opening partnership. Sri Lankan captain Shashikala Siriwardene rotated bowlers in search of a wicket, but the India openers kept the scoring rate going with Mithali Raj looking for singles and Vanitha playing the role of the aggressor. The Indian skipper was finally removed in the 10th over for 23 off 33 balls after left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari found an edge off Mithali Raj’s bat to gift a catch to wicketkeeper Dilani Manodara.

The last match’s star performer, Smriti Mandhana walked in next and continued her innings from where she had left off on Thursday by taking the attack to the Sri Lankan bowlers. Vanitha departed in the 14th over after a 46-run partnership off just 25 balls with Mandhana. The opener scored 37 off 34 balls including 3 fours and six before left-arm medium bowler Udeshika Prabodhani sent back the right-hander.

Needing just 34 off 39 balls, Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur raked in the winning runs in a hurry to close the match out with 13 balls to spare.

Earlier, Indian skipper Mithali Raj won the toss and opted to field on a batting-friendly track at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru. Sri Lanka got off to a good start with openers Chamari Atapattu and Yasoda Mendis carefully negotiating the initial spell of Indian bowlers Jhulan Goswami and Anuja Patil. However, Mithali Raj’s decision to introduce Shikha Pandey in the fifth over, worked as the pacer cleaned up Yasoda Mendis to strike the first blow. Atapattu followed her opening partner back to the dressing room shortly after leg-spinner Poonam Yadav dismissed the left-hander for 18.

Two more wickets fell in quick succession as right arm off-spinner Deepti Sharma sent back skipper Shashikala Siriwardene and Oshadi Ranasinghe to leave the Lankans reeling at 58/4 at the end of the 14th over. Wicketkeeper Dilani Manodara and Eshani Lokusuriyage joined hands and formed an unbeaten 67-run partnership off just 37 balls to guide their team to a respectable score of 125/4 in the allotted 20 overs. Dilani Manodara scored 43 off 35 balls, including four boundaries and a six, while Lokusuriyage smashed a 20-ball 34 to heap misery on the Indian bowlers.

Get updates! Follow us on

Open all