1st T20I: Jemimah Rodrigues’ unbeaten half-century helps India Women take 1-0 lead against Sri Lanka
With this dominant win, the Women in Blue took a 1-0 lead against Sri Lanka in the ongoing T20I series.
Chasing a target of 122 runs, Jemimah achieved an unbeaten 69 runs off 44 deliveries with the help of 10 fours that helped India Women chase the target in just 14.4 overs. Jemimah also equaled Mithali Raj’s 50-over score against Sri Lanka in the T20Is.
Smriti Mandhana, who had previously scored 25 runs, became the second woman to reach the 4000-run mark in T20Is after New Zealand’s Suzie Bates (4716 runs). Mandhana also did so faster in terms of number of balls taken (3227) than Bates, who reached the 4000 runs milestone by taking 3675 balls.
During the chase, Mandhana and Jemimah put on a crucial partnership of 54 runs for the second wicket which put India in a commanding position.
Jemimah also stitched up an unbeaten 55-run stand for the third wicket with captain Harmanpreet Kaur hitting an unbeaten 15 to help the Women in Blue win the first T20I by eight wickets.
After choosing to field first, India Women produced a disciplined bowling performance to restrict Sri Lanka to 121/6 in 20 overs. Three Sri Lankan batsmen were run out. Kranti Gaud, Deepti Sharma and Shree Char took one wicket each to keep the visitors tight throughout the innings.
Sri Lankan opener Vishmi Gunaratne became the visiting team’s top scorer by scoring 39 goals from 43 balls. He held one end but struggled to get up to speed and was eventually dismissed in 17.5 minutes.
The visitors suffered an early setback as skipper Chamari Athapaththu became the first wicket to fall for 18. He managed 15 before being cleared by Kranti Gaud. Sri Lanka reached 31/1 in the powerplay with under six runs per over.
Hasini Perera became the second batsman to be dismissed after making 20 off 23 balls, falling to Deepti Sharma in 9.1 overs. Sri Lanka reached 50 in 9.3 overs but continued to struggle to increase the run rate.
Harshitha Samarawickrama also found it difficult to hit boundaries and scored 21 off 23 balls with two fours. The visitors reached the 100-run mark in the 17th over. Nilakshika Silva and Kavisha Dilhari both sold out.
Among the bowlers, Deepti Sharma was the most economical, taking figures of 1/20 in four overs, which included a maiden. Kranti Gaud finished with 1/23 from three overs, while Shree Charani gave up 30 runs and took one wicket in his four overs.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka Women 121/6 in 20 overs (Vishmi Gunaratne 39, Harshitha Samarawickrama 21; Deepti Sharma 1/20) vs India Women (Jemimah Rodrigues 69*, Smriti Mandhana 25; Inoka Ranaweera 1/17).
