DAMBULLA: Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur shone with her brilliant all-round performance that helped her team defeat Sri Lanka in the second Women’s T20I to take an undisputed 2-0 lead in the ongoing series.
In a low-scoring thriller, the Indian batsmen kept their cool as they racked up a target of 126 runs with five wickets and as many balls to spare to claim series victory.
In the run chase, the touring side starters provided a solid start for the side as the duo of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma added 30 runs for the first wicket before Verma came up short against Oshadi Ranasinghe in the fourth over. .
Right-handed batsman Sabbhineni Meghana then joined Mandhana at the crease and continued proceedings down the tour side. Her stay, however, was cut short when she perished in the sixth after posting a quick 17 in 10 deliveries.
Mandhana then joined his skipper Kaur and anchored the race chase with a major 38-run partnership for third wicket. The opening batswoman, who looked solid for her half a century, fell 11 short of her when Inoka Ranaweera bagged her first wicket.
The left-handed batsman remained the leading scorer for her side with a magnificent 39-for-34 ball, laced with eight bounds.
After his departure, the tour team lost two quick wickets and soon slipped from 86-2 to 114-5 in the 18th, but Kaur’s gritty slam helped the team move toward the finish line. The captain remained undefeated with 31 of 32 balls and made sure to lead her team to victory.
For Sri Lanka, Ranaweera and Kashiva Dilhari struck twice, while Sugandika Kumari made a scalp.
Batting first, the home team got off to a great start as their starting partner of Vishmi Gunaratne and captain Chamari Athapaththu mounted an astonishing 87-run opening position before the latter lost his way in the 14th after scoring 43-for-41 with the help of seven limits and a six.
Garunaratne, struggling to score freely, also fell briefly after Athapaththu’s dismissal as he returned at 17. She remained her team’s top scorer with a slow 45.
After his departure, the home team began to lose wickets alarmingly and none of their break batsmen were able to score in double figures as the Indian bowlers managed to restrict Sri Lanka to 125/7 in the allotted 20 overs.
For India, Deepti Sharma made two scalps, while Renuka Singh, Radha Yadav, Pooja Vastrakar and Kaur each struck out one batter.
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