SL-W vs IND-W | 3rd ODI Review | Harmanpreet and Co. complete 3-nil whitewash

The 3rd ODI of the series played between Sri Lanka Women and India Women at Pallekele International Stadium on Thursday (July 7), proved to be a venue for the Women in Blue to display their stronghold in the format.

Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu won the toss and elected to bowl. According to the pitch report, the surface used in this game was drier than the pitches used in the previous games, giving the spinners an advantage.

After remaining unbeaten in the second game of the series, the Indian openers carried the same momentum in this match. Shafali Verma, continuing from where she left, started attacking the Sri Lankan bowlers in the powerplay.

Smriti Mandhana, however, couldn’t remain consistent with her form as she was taking time to play shots. In the 7th over by Kavisha Dilhari, Mandhana attempted a cut towards the square leg but edged it to the keeper. She scored just 6 runs from 20 deliveries. 

Despite being a difficult pitch to play, Shafali Verma and Yastika Bhatia continued scoring runs at a decent run rate. The duo had a partnership of 59 runs from 64 deliveries.

In the 18th over, Bhatia 30(38) tried playing a lofted shot towards mid-off, mistimed and got caught by the fielder in the ring. Very next over, Shafali Verma 49(50), played down the wrong line and got out LBW. Sri Lankan bowler Rashmi De Silva picked up her maiden ODI wicket.

Once both the set batters were out, Sri Lankan bowlers didn’t allow the middle-order to score runs. India’s middle-order collapsed as they lost five wickets for the next 24 runs. 

India was in a tricky position. However, Kaur showed her experience and stayed solid in the middle as she got superb support from the other end by Pooja Vastrakar. The duo stitched a partnership of 97 runs which helped India put 255 runs on board.

Inoka Ranaweera was once again Sri Lanka’s most economical bowler, and she grabbed two important wickets.

Sri Lankan skipper, Athapaththu opened the innings in this match. Once again, a slow start by the openers, in the 4th over by Meghna Singh, Vishmi Gunaratne 3(10) to release the pressure, tried playing a lofted shot but was caught out. However, Athapaththu started dealing in boundaries, and Sri Lanka scored 56 runs at the loss of one wicket in the powerplay.

Athapaththu had gotten a start and was batting fluently. In the 11th over, Kaur bowled a slower through the air, Athapathuthu 44(41) played a misjudged shot and got herself out at long-on. This wicket also broke Athapaththu and Hasini Perera’s 56 runs partnership.

Sri Lankan middle-order kept forming small partnerships. However, Indian bowlers didn’t allow them to convert it into big ones and kept taking wickets in intervals.

The partnership between the twin sisters, Nilaskhi de Silva and Rashmi de Silva provided some resistance in the end but due to the high demanding run rate, Lankans couldn’t chase the target. 

Nilakshi has become Sri Lanka’s middle-order pillar as she has been the most consistent with the bat. Her unbeaten 48 helped Sri Lanka go past 200, however, they were short by 39 runs.

Mostly all the Indian bowlers contributed and picked up wickets but in particular, it was Rajeshwari Gayakwad who grabbed a three-wicket. 

Kaur was named 'Player of the Series' as India registered a series sweep against Sri Lanka. They would wish to deliver the same performance in the upcoming commonwealth games in England.

Brief scores:

India 255-9 (50 overs; H Kaur 75, P Vastrakar 56*; I Ranaweera 2-22)

Sri Lanka 216-10  (47.3 overs; N de Silva 48*, C Athapaththu 44; R Gayakwad 3-36)

India won by 39 runs.