Setting their foot on the island country early this
month, the Women in Blue relished the Sri Lankan platter served to them. Led by
Mithali Raj in the ODIs, the India Women defeated the hosts 2-1 in the
three-match ODI series.
Smriti
Mandhana (73 not out) and Mansi Joshi (3-16) starred for the visitors in the
first ODI, winning the match by nine wickets. Wicket-keeper Taniya Bhatia (68)
was the vital cog in the batting wheel of India in the second ODI guiding her
side to a nail biting 7-run win. The third ODI which was just a matter of
academic interest saw the hosts conclude the ODI series on a positive note as
they finally managed to register a win. The skippers on either side; Mithali
Raj (125) and Chamari Athapaththu (115) scored delightful centuries. The Sri
Lanka Women had the last laugh as they crossed the finishing line, winning the
game by three wickets.
Sri Lanka was expected to take a leaf out of their
third ODI however the fresh looking Indian T20 side led by Harmanpreet Kaur
came out all guns blazing. The five-match T20 series concluded in India’s
favour; 4-0, with one match being washed out. Thanks to the efforts of Taniya
Bhatia (46) and leg spinner Poonam Yadav (4-26), the visitors won the opening
T20 by 11 runs. Rain God played a spoil
sport in the second T20, as the match was called off after 7.5 overs of play. The
Women in Blue were ruthless in the last three T20s as they handed over big
defeats to the hosts. India won by five wickets in the third T20, courtesy the
batting brilliance of Jemimah Rodrigues (57). In the fourth T20 as well, Jemimah
(52 not out) scored a blissful half century. But the star of the match was
all-rounder Anuja Patil, who wrecked havoc with her off-spin grabbing 3-36 and
smashing an unbeaten 54 off 42 balls. The Indian skipper gave the perfect
ending to the T20 series as she muscled 63 (38), smacking five sixes and three
boundaries. Leggie Poonam Yadav led the bowling attack from the front clinching
3-18.
Having won the T20 series convincingly, Harmanpreet
Kaur and co. will look to take their form to the Women’s World T20 that is
scheduled to be played this year between November 9 and 24 in West Indies.
Source: Sportstarlive
