WWC 2017 IND v SL Review: Four on the trot for the Indian eves as Sri Lanka continue their miserable run

The India Women’s team is on a rampage currently. Every team that’s coming in their way is getting battered and the latest of the victims are the Sri Lankan Women, who gave a tough fight but fell short by 16 runs chasing a target of 233. Batting first, openers Smriti Mandhana and Punam Raut didn’t last long and by the time 11 overs were done and dusted, skipper Mithali Raj walked in to bat to accompany number 3 Deepti Sharma.

If there was anything in the world the Indian side was craving for, it was a decent partnership; Mithali and Deepti were game for the challenge. The duo played some sensible cricket and kept the scoreboard ticking collecting the odd boundary in between. Sharma slowly upped the ante and started to augment the scoring rate whilst the skipper silently kept piling up runs.

Mithali averages 174.6 against the Lankans and she scored yet another half-century against them to inch closer to Charlotte Edwards (all-time highest run scorer in Women’s cricket). Deepti too notched a spectacular half-century and the all-rounder is certainly having a ball in this tournament. After scoring 78 off 110 balls which included 10 boundaries, she walked back after miscuing a shot straight down to the skipper Ranaweera.

Surprisingly, Jhulan Goswami walked out to bat ahead off Harmanpreet Singh and Veda Krishnamurthy and quite a lot of eyebrows were raised. This move didn’t work for the Indians unfortunately as Jhulan was caught at long-on after a failed attempt to clear the boundary off Ranaweera. To add insult to injury, Mithali was rapped on the pads the very next delivery of her opposite number Ranaweera. Attempting a sweep, she was caught plumb in front as the Lankan skipper deceived her Indian counterpart with extra pace.

Harmanpreet and Krishnamurthy tried their best but couldn’t push the scoring rate up, which eventually meant India ended their innings at 232 after the end of 50 overs for the loss of 8 wickets. Sripali Weerakkody, the new ball bowler, picked 3 crucial wickets and gave away just 28 runs and skipper Ranaweera took a brace.

Almost, but not quite there! 

When compared to the other opponents, Sri Lanka gave India the toughest fight thus far in the tournament. England came very close to beating India, but their batters fell like a pack of cards in the final 10 overs whilst chasing. But that wasn’t the case with Sri Lanka, who started off cautiously and went about their innings smartly.

After losing their first wicket for 17, Nipuni Hansika and the in-form Chamari Atapattu tried to steady the Lankan ship. But with 57 runs on the board, Atapattu was tricked by a splendid googly from Poonam Yadav, which bamboozled her and rattled the stumps. The Indian leggie next sent Hansika back after she scored 29 off 66 balls.

Wicketkeeper Manodara and Siriwardene then stitched a great partnership capitalising on some shambolic bowling from the Indians from the 30th to 40th over. Siriwardene was looking well set on 37 and in an attempt to clear the long on boundary, she was caught by Veda Krishnamurthy and the Lankan gallery looked distraught.

Manodara tried to bat the adversities out and showed great composure in the final 10 overs. She along with Sripali Weerakkody and the lower order tried to condense the total as much as possible, but after Manodara tried to loft Ekta Bisht and got stumped, the match was pretty much done and dusted.

Sri Lanka somehow crawled towards the 216-run mark at the end of their 50 overs and showed great character after a diabolical start. This latest defeat almost puts their hopes of making it to the semi-final stages to bed, but the number game is quite funny and all they can do is hope. India on the other side look unstoppable and they’re inches away from a place in the semi-finals.

Brief Scores:

India: 232/8 in 50 overs (Deepti 78, Mithali 53, Weerakkody 3/28)

Sri Lanka: 216/7 in 50 overs (Manodara 61, Siriwardene 37, Jhulan Goswami 2/26, Poonam Yadav 2/23)