Smriti Mandhana and Shafali put on an unbeaten 174-run partnership and Renuka Thakur picked up 4/28 to give India an unassailable 2-0 lead in the 3-match series against Sri Lanka.
The pair raced to the target in just 25.4 overs, sparing no one from the opposition bowling attack, who, barring Achini Kulasuriya, all went at above 6 runs an over. But it was the bowlers who really set up the win for India, Renuka Thakur renewing her career-best figures yet again.
Thakur and Meghna Singh were brilliant early in Sri Lanka’s innings, after Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to field first in Pallekelle. In tandem the pair bowled 7 overs for just 13 runs, with Thakur picking up 3 wickets.
The right-armer picked up Hasini Perera for 0 in the first over of the game, then frustrated Vishmi Gunaratne into a false shot, before trapping Harshitha Samarawickrama for another duck.
All hope fell on the shoulders of Athapaththu yet again, but she could not deliver, Singh finally getting her caught in the deep after 2 close calls earlier in the innings.
Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani and Ama Kanchana tried hard to resurrect the Lankan innings, but a high percentage of dot balls meant they ultimately could not get to a competitive total, despite batting out the 50 overs.
Both Mandhana and Verma were given lives in the field, with at least 4 catches being dropped by the Sri Lankan fielders, and they made the most of it, posting the highest partnership for any wicket versus Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka and also their 1st 100-run partnership in ODIs.
Earlier in the day, Gunaratne became the 75th Women’s ODI player for Sri Lanka and at 16 years and 316 days, the youngest to represent Sri Lanka in International Cricket.
The 3rd and final ODI will be played on the 7th of July at the same venue.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hasini Perera | b Renuka Singh | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Chamari Athapaththu | c Shafali Verma b Meghna Singh | 27 | 45 | 3 | 0 | 60.00 |
| Vishmi Gunaratne | b Renuka Singh | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21.43 |
| Harshitha Samarawickrama | lbw b Renuka Singh | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Anushka Sanjeewani | run out (Yastika Bhatia) | 25 | 44 | 2 | 0 | 56.82 |
| Nilakshi de Silva | c Deepti Sharma b Meghna Singh | 32 | 62 | 3 | 0 | 51.61 |
| Kavisha Dilhari | run out (Yastika Bhatia) | 5 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 71.43 |
| Ama Kanchana | not out | 47 | 83 | 2 | 0 | 56.63 |
| Oshadi Ranasinghe | c Deepti Sharma b Renuka Singh | 10 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 52.63 |
| Inoka Ranaweera | st Yastika Bhatia b Deepti Sharma | 6 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Achini Kulasuriya | c Harleen Deol b Deepti Sharma | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 18 (b 2 , lb 6 , nb 0, w 10, pen 0) |
| Total | 173/10 (50 Overs, RR: 3.46) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renuka Singh | 10 | 1 | 28 | 4 | 2.80 | |
| Meghna Singh | 10 | 0 | 43 | 2 | 4.30 | |
| Pooja Vastrakar | 4 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 3.75 | |
| Rajeshwari Gayakwad | 10 | 2 | 24 | 0 | 2.40 | |
| Deepti Sharma | 10 | 0 | 30 | 2 | 3.00 | |
| Harleen Deol | 3 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 4.33 | |
| Harmanpreet Kaur | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 4.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shafali Verma | not out | 71 | 71 | 4 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Smriti Mandhana | not out | 94 | 83 | 11 | 1 | 113.25 |
| Extras | 9 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 9, pen 0) |
| Total | 174/0 (26 Overs, RR: 6.69) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Achini Kulasuriya | 5 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 4.80 | |
| Oshadi Ranasinghe | 5 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 7.20 | |
| Ama Kanchana | 4 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 8.25 | |
| Inoka Ranaweera | 6 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 7.00 | |
| Kavisha Dilhari | 3 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 6.00 | |
| Chamari Athapaththu | 3 | 11 | 21 | 0 | 7.00 | |
