IND-W vs SL-W | 1st ODI Review | India gets a 1-0 lead

As part of the Women’s ICC championship, India and Sri Lanka started the three-match, white-ball series. Through this series, Harmanpreet Kaur also begins her tenure as the new ODI captain.

Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu won the toss and elected to bat first.

The pitch was similar to the one used for the recent Sri Lanka Australia T-20 series, with no grass on it; spinners, as expected, played an important role.  

After her knock of 80 runs in the last T20, Chamari Athapaththu would’ve wished to continue the form in the longer format. She couldn’t provide an ideal start as she lost her wicket in the third over while playing the ball outside off, there was an edge, and the keeper took the catch. It was a key wicket by Renuka Singh.

Despite losing her opening partner, Perera kept adding runs at a moderate run rate but didn’t get support from the other end as Karunaratne was finding it difficult to score runs. In the 7th over by Deepti Sharma, Karunaratne tried playing a big shot to release the tension, mistimed it and sent a catch to mid-off. At the end of the powerplay, Sri Lanka scored 36 runs at the loss of two wickets.

Indian bowlers made a wonderful comeback after a disappointing performance in the last T20 match. However, Sri Lankan middle-order batters found a way to form several partnerships. Perera and Madavi’s 34 runs partnership set the tone for the match. It was in the 18th over that set batter Perera was trapped by Deepti Sharma for LBW.

De Silva 43[63], continuing her form from the T20 series, was Sri Lanka’s highest run-scorer in this match. She formed a partnership of 47 runs in 91 deliveries with Sanjeewani, which helped Sri Lanka score decent runs. She lost her wicket in the 42nd over, after which Sri Lankan tailenders found it difficult to score runs.

With almost two overs remaining, Sri Lanka got all out after scoring 171 runs on a tricky track. Deepti Sharma and Renuka Singh were India’s best bowlers taking three wickets each.

India had a deep and experienced batting line-up. Smriti Mandhana, struggling with her form, was bowled by Ranasinghe in the second over. She scored four runs. Yastika Bhatia 1[8] promoted up the order, couldn’t utilise the opportunity and was bowled by Ranasinghe in the 4th over.

Not an ideal start by the Indian batters as India scored 37 runs for the loss of two wickets in the powerplay. Shafali Verma took charge of the chase and started scoring runs quickly. With Harmanpreet providing support from the other end, the duo had a partnership of 44 runs. In the 16th over, to play a big shot, Shafali 35[40] couldn’t time it and was stumped by the keeper. 

Harleen Deol, back on the ODI side, started scoring runs quickly and supported Harmanpreet Kaur to form a crucial partnership. Together both added 62 runs from 60 deliveries which brought India on the safer side.

Both the set batters, Harleen Deol and Harmanpreet Kaur, were dismissed by Ranaweera. Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar held their nerves, formed a partnership of 38 runs and successfully chased the target with 12 overs remaining. 

Ranaweera was Sri Lanka’s most economical bowler and grabbed four important wickets. However, with not enough runs on the board, India chased the target and got a lead of 1-0 in the series.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka 171 [48.2 overs; N Silva 43, H Perera 37; D Sharma 3-25]

India 176-6 [38 overs; H Kaur 44, S Verma 35; Ranaweera 4-39]

India won by four wickets.