Indian women clinched 34 run victory over Sri Lankan women at the first T20 international game played at Rangiri Dambulla Stadium on Thursday
India chose to bat in Dambulla with a slightly overcast-looking sky in the background. On a batter-friendly pitch with a quick outfield, the game was primed for the famed Indian bating order to bully the host. But what happened was the opposite. Oshadhi Ranasinghe struck in her very first over, removing Smriti Mandhana and S Meghana off successive deliveries.
Harmanpreet Kaur came on and briefly rebuilt the Indian innings with Shafali Verma, who was looking comfortable and confident. Harman resorted to her signature sweep to break tight passages of play and was even dropped twice in trying to do – two seemingly simple opportunities. Chamari Athapaththu came on herself and after being the fielder who caught Mandhana and Meghana, she dismissed Shafali off the first ball in her first over. Harman’s luck ran out as she fell soon after.
Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh were tasked with the rebuild but Richa fell right before the end of the 15th over. Pooja Vastrakar came in and found the boundary with some force but Inoka who took out Harman and Richa castled the Indian allrounder. Deepti Sharma, coming on lower than we’re used to seeing her, helped India finish on a high, with her and Jemi managing 20 runs in the last over to take India to 138. Athapaththu should be very pleased with her bowlers, however fielding was a big concern with some clumsy stops and dropped catches needing to be addressed.
Chasing 139 to win, Sri Lanka never truly got going in the second innings. Relying far too much on Chamari Athapaththu, the approach was too cautious from the host. Chamari took time to open up, which stalled the run flow and eventually holed out without making too big a contribution to the chase. The rest of the order struggled to do what the skipper is known to do, an age old problem facing Sri Lankan cricket. Kavisha Dilhari, who dropped a catch and gave away 20 runs in the final over of the Indian innings, tried to make amends for the costs on the field and managed a career best 47*. But Sri Lanka was left with too much to do in too little time and no one could really take on the Indian bowling lineup. With just two extras conceded, India was extremely disciplined, despite dropping a few easy catches themselves. Reducing dot balls and a better strike rotation will be priorities before these two teams go again in the 2nd T20i on Saturday.
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