SL-W vs IND-W | 3rd T20I Preview | Spotlight: Harmanpreet Kaur

She plays the sport with only one philosophy, ‘see the ball, hit the ball.’ Irrespective of the situation, she walks into bat; this Punjab-based batter will terrify the opposition with her counter-attacking skills. It is only fitting that she idolised former Indian batter Virender Sehwag whilst she was still breaking into the Indian team. The prolific Indian batter unleashed his natural instincts irrespective of the format he played in.

This is the ideology of Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur who has mesmerised everyone with her innate batting skills. Perhaps, there was no better way for the Indian batter to make her International Debut back in 2009. Then 20-year-old Harmanpreet Kaur had her first taste of international cricket against arch-rivals Pakistan in the Women’s World Cup.

It was not quite a memorable debut for the youngster, but little did she know that she would go on and represent India in several ICC events in the coming years. Harmanpreet Kaur has stamped her authority as being one of the most delicate batters in world cricket and has inspired a whole new generation of young Indian girls to take up the sport.

Harmanpreet Kaur has amassed 5392 runs in 13 years of international cricket, and she surely has quite a few years of cricket left in her. In 2018, she became the first Indian batter to score a T20I hundred when she dismantled the New Zealand bowling attack in the T20I World Cup opener.

No Indian cricket fan will ever forget Harmanpreet Kaur’s legendary unbeaten knock of 171 runs against Australia. The setting and the sheer importance of the fixture outline the brilliance of Harmanpreet Kaur. The Indian batter smashed the Australian bowlers all-around the park to help India reach the finals of the 2017 ICC World Cup. 

In 2017, Harmanpreet Kaur became one of the 17 sports persons to receive the Arjuna Award, a feat which she thought could never be achieved. The 33-year-old batter is currently leading India in the limited overs format as she eyes World Cup glory in the coming years.

Recently, Harmanpreet Kaur eclipsed her former teammate, Mithali Raj to become India’s top run-getter in T20I Cricket. She has scored 2341 runs in 122 T20I matches at an average of 26.30, which includes one hundred and six fifties.

Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. have taken an unassailable 2-0 series lead in the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. The visitors will look to inflict a clean sweep over their Asian rivals before the caravan moves onto the 50-over format. 

Harmanpreet Kaur’s unbeaten knock of 31 runs helped India register a victory in the second T20I and seal the series. The fixture will be played at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Dambulla.

Match Details:

Match: Sri Lanka vs India, 3rd T20I

Venue: Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Dambulla

Date & Time: June 27 at 2:00 PM IST

Live Streaming: FanCode  

Pitch Report: The pitch has favoured the spinners in the first two T20Is, and we could see the trend continuing on Monday. Out of the 12 wickets picked in the second T20I, seven wickets went in the way of the spinners. Batting will not be accessible on this surface. Hence anything around 140-150 should be a good first innings total.

Sri Lanka Women: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Harshitha Madavi, Nilakshi de Silva, Vishmi Gunaratne, Hasini Perera, Udeshika Prabodhani, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Inoka Ranaweera, Sathya Sandeepani, Kaushani Nuthyangana, Anushka Sanjeewani, Rashmi de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Ama Kanchana, Hanshima Karunaratne, Achini Kulasuriya, Sugandika Kumari, Tharika Sewwandi, Malsha Shehani

India Women: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Sabbhineni Meghana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Yastika Bhatia, Richa Ghosh, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Simran Bahadur, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh, Radha Yadav