India-W blow apart Sri Lanka-W to pocket T20I series

Team India blew apart Sri Lanka in Kerala, pocketing the ongoing T20I series with two games to spare. Another clinical bowling display from the Women in Blue combined with Shafali Verma’s unchecked assault with the bat, sealed the fate of the game as India-W went 3-0 up in the five-match T20I fray.

Winning the third toss in a row, Harmanpreet Kaur opted to bowl first. Despite Hasini Perera’s (25) early charge, India kept things in control. Deepti Sharma stormed in to get hold of Chamari Athapaththu who struggled to get going as India landed their first breakthrough.

A double whammy from the returning Renuka Singh left Sri Lanka stranded as she sent Perera and Harshitha Samarawickrama (2) back to the pavilion in no time. Things got further complicated for the visitors as Renuka struck for the third time in a row, removing Nilakshi de Silva (4) as India found themselves in the driver’s seat. Kavisha Dilhari (20), Imesha Dulani (27) and Kaushani Nuthyanagana (19*) chimed in with crucial cameos to help Sri Lanka garner 112 runs on the board.

Renuka Singh topped the pack with figures of 4-1-21-4 while Deepti Sharma bagged three wickets from her spell of four overs. The others collectively stepped up to keep things in check as the Sri Lankan bowlers had a daunting task at hand.

India lost Smriti Mandhana (1) and Jemimah Rodrigues (9) early in the innings. But an in-form Shafali Verma (79*) laced with an anchoring Harmanpreet Kaur steered India to the finish line without any fuss. Verma leapfrogged an impressive catalogue to register the highest number of half-centuries in WT20Is before turning 22 as she chronicled her 13th fifty.

Verma brought up her fifty by glancing Malki Madara for a quick single, bringing up the feat in just 24 balls. The duo of Verma and Kaur added 48 runs for the third wicket as India bagged an eight-wicket win while pocketing the series as well. Renuka Singh was the Player of the Match for her incredible four-fer in the first innings.