Sri Lanka produced a good performance with the ball but unfortunately could not back it up with their batting as they lost the 1st T20I in the 3 match series against India in Ranchi today.
The hosts won the toss and elected to bat first but found the going tough against the Lankan bowlers. Sri Lanka opted to open the bowling with left armer Udeshika Prabodhani and left arm orthodox bowler Sugandika Kumari and their ploy worked as the Indians lost two early wickets to the spinner. Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur continued their good form from the ODI series to put on a 61 run partnership for the 3rd wicket and give their team a solid platform going into the last 5 overs. Anuja Patil made the most of it, smashing 3 boundaries on her way to a 17 ball 22. India ended with 130 off their allotted overs.
Kumari was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka, picking up India’s top 3 while Eshani Lokusooriya picked up 2. Overall it wasn’t bad performance by the bowlers but they would probably have rued the fact that they allowed a few extra runs to leak in the final few overs.
Sri Lanka’s chase got off to a disastrous start as they lost Yasoda Mendis in the 1st over and then Chamari Atapattu in the 3rd. Dilani Manodara continued her good run with the bat, making 41, putting on 38 runs for the 4th wicket alongside skipper Shashikala Siriwardene. She added a further 20 runs with debutant Hansima Karunaratne, who made a run a ball 14. It was to no avail however as Sri Lanka fell well short of the target, finishing at 96/7.
All five of the bowlers Indian skipper Mithali Raj used were effective, with Patil being the pick, dismissing 3 batters for just 14 runs.
The two teams will next lock horns on the 24th and Sri Lanka will need to secure a win if they are to keep the series alive.
Scores :
India 130/6 (20) Harmanpreet Kaur 36, Smriti Mandhana 35, Sugandika Kumari 3/28, Eshani Lokusooriya 2/19
Sri Lanka 96/7 (20) Dilani Manodara 41, Shashikala Siriwardene 18, Anuja Patil 3/14, Deepti sharma 2/23
Result – India won by 34 runs
