IND-W vs SL-W | 3rd T20I | Sri Lanka win their first T20I against India at home

In the last match of the series, Sri Lankan women bounced back and prevented themselves from a clean sweep. 

Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bat first. Openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma, once again, couldn't provide an ideal start as Shafali Verma got out in the first over while trying to play an aggressive shot. As a result, India scored 37 runs at the loss of 1 wicket in the powerplay.

S. Meghana and Smriti Mandhana kept the scoreboard running and established a partnership of 41 runs in 40 deliveries. 

To increase the run rate, in the 7th over, Smriti Mandhana 22(21) tried a lofted shot but mistimed it and got out to long-off. With it, Ranasinghe provided a significant breakthrough for Sri Lanka. 

Sri Lanka had a more promising bowling performance and prevented India from forming successful partnerships. However, set batter S. Meghana, 22(26), couldn't turn her twenties into a big score and got out in the 9th over.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues's partnership of 64 runs in 56 deliveries helped India maintain a moderate run rate. Unfortunately, in the 19th over, Jemimah's knock of 33 runs ended. 

But once again, Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur 39*(33) stayed in the middle till the end, and a quick cameo by Pooja Vastrakar 13(6) helped India put 138 runs on board, of which 16 runs came in the last over. 

Ranasinghe at the end of the innings, was once again Sri Lanka's most economical bowler.

Sri Lankan skipper’s conviction in chasing 139 on the considerably slower pitch helped Sri Lanka win the match. Athapaththu was determined to pursue the target and displayed explosive batting. Even after the powerplay, she continued to score above the needed run rate.

Despite getting a breakthrough in the first over of Gunaratne, Indian bowlers couldn't continue their streak of wickets; Athapaththu took advantage of that.

Sri Lanka's undefiable approach towards chasing the target was observed in the other batters as well. De Silva proved to be an asset as she supported Athapaththu from the other end of the wicket, resulting in a 77-run partnership.

India's stint at the field was haunted by misfields and dropped catches. The bowlers couldn't land their deliveries, and the batters failed to put up a defendable target. 

De Silva 30(28) got run out in the 15th over. Subsequently, Athapaththu scored 80*(48), including 14 boundaries which helped Sri Lanka chase the target effortlessly with 18 balls to spare.

An all-around performance from Sri Lanka by sticking to the basics helped them clinch the win. Sri Lanka will be looking forward to maintaining the set standard in the upcoming ODI series. However, India won the T20 series by 2-1, and Harmanpreet Kaur won the Player of the Series title.

Brief scores:

India 138-5 (20 overs; H Kaur 39*, J Rodrigues 33; A Kanchana 1-22)

Sri Lanka 141-3 (17 overs; C Athapaththu 80*, N Silva 30; R Singh 1-27)

Sri Lanka won by seven wickets.