Women in Blue take an unassailable lead of 2-0 against Sri Lanka in the ODI series

Deepti Sharma had an amazing day at office as she finished off with the envious figures of 4-23 in her nine overs against Sri Lanka in the second ODI that was played on Wednesday at Ranchi. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Sri Lanka could not make the most of it as they were reduced to a dismal 178-9 in 50 overs. DilaniManodara (43*) and PrasadaniWeerakkodi (37) were the only two batsmen who got off to good starts. India eves bowled well in tandem and were well-backed up by the fielders.

Chasing 179 was not going to be a daunting task. Southpaw SmritiMandhana who is enjoying her purple patch scored a run a ball 46 and provided a solid start to the hosts. She found an able ally in MD Thirushkamini who played well for her 26 runs. Having missed on a half century by a single run in the first ODI, skipper Mithali Raj compensated this time by striking a patient 53 off 80 balls, remaining unbeaten at the end of the innings. Harmanpreet Kaur played well for her 41 and stitched a strong partnership of 64 runs with the skipper. Sugandika Kumari was outstanding with the ball as she picked up 4-39 in 10 overs, sending back India’s top order to the hut.

Deepti Sharma was declared as the Man of the Match for her brilliant bowling performance. The hosts take on Sri Lanka for the last ODI, which is just of academic importance, on Friday at Ranchi.   

Brief scores: Sri Lanka Women 178-9 in 50 overs (P Weerakkodi 37, D Manodara 43*;D Sharma 4-23) lost to India Women 179-4 in 43.1 overs (S Mandhana 46, M Raj 53*, H Kaur 41; S Kumari 4-39) by 6 wickets

source:cricket.com.au