The Sri Lanka Women’s cricket team succumbed to yet another heavy defeat at the hands of neighbouring India in the 3rd and final T20I held in Ranchi today.
Sri Lanka opted to bat first after winning the toss for the 2nd consecutive match and yet again failed to capitalise on the conditions, making just 89 in their allotted overs. Chamari Atapattu had a new opening partner in this game as Oshadi Ranasinghe was sent up the order to replace Yasoda Mendis. There was no change in performance however as Ranasinghe was dismissed in the 1st over for a duck. Skipper Sashikala Siriwardene followed soon after for a duck as well, leaving Sri Lanka in deep trouble at 2/2. Nipuni Hansika and Atapattu put on 33 for the 3rd wicket to steady the innings but the next 5 wickets fell for 11 runs as the Indian spinners ran riot in the middle overs. Eshani Lokusooriya blasted a couple of boundaries on her way to a 22 ball 25 while Ama Kanchana made 17 off 13 deliveries to push Sri Lanka to 89 off their 20 overs.
Left arm spinner Ekta Bisht was the pick of the bowlers for the home side, picking up 3 for 17 while off spinner Anuja Patil took 2 for 19.
Chasing a small total can prove to be tricky, as India found out in the last game where they lost 4 early wickets. However this time they faced no such trouble as Vellaswamy Vanitha and Smriti Mandhana got them off to a flier. The pair put on a brisk 64 run partnership for the opening wicket as the Sri Lankan spinners received little help from the pitch. Vanitha was dismissed for 34 off the bowling of part timer Atapattu but Veda Krishnamurthy and Mandhana saw the Indians home with little over 6 overs to spare.
Lankan skipper Siriwardene threw everything at the Indians with little result as the bowlers went for plenty.
Sri Lanka would have dearly liked to have pulled off a win as they are currently on a 15 match losing streak in international cricket in all formats over 3 tours. Their last win came way back in May last year when they beat the West Indies in an ODI at home.
Scores
Sri Lanka 89/9 (20) Eshani Lokusooriya 25, Chamari Atapattu 21, Ekta Bisht 3/17
India 91/1 (13.5) Smriti Mandhana 43, Vellaswamy Vanitha 34, Chamari Atapattu 1/19
Result – India won by 9 wickets with 37 balls remaining
