The hosts India secured an 8-wicket win over Sri Lanka to go 1–0 up in the five-match T20I series in Visakhapatnam.
Having won the toss, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur asked Sri Lanka to bat first, as the home side handed a debut to 20-year-old Vaishnavi Sharma, who bowls left-arm orthodox.
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The opening stand between Vishmi Gunaratne and Chamari Athapaththu was reduced to just 18 runs when Sri Lanka captain was knocked over by Kranti Gaud. The former shared a couple of 30-odd partnerships with Hasini Perera and Harshitha Samarawickrama. Though all of them got starts, no one was really able to play with intent and failed to get going.
The hosts were not up to the mark in the field, dropping five catches. However, no Sri Lankan batter managed to capitalize on it. Gunaratne top-scored with 39 as Sri Lanka finished on 121/6.
In response, the visitors struck in just the second over, with Shashini Gimhani holding onto a good low catch off the bowling of Kawya Kavindi to get rid of Shafali Verma. However, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues steadied things while stitching together a half-century stand before the opener was dismissed by Inoka Ranaweera for a run-a-ball 25.
Rodrigues shared another unbeaten 55-run partnership with the skipper to take India home with more than five overs to spare. Batting at No. 3, the right-handed batter stroked an undefeated knock of 69 off 44 balls, including 10 boundaries.
The second T20I will be played on 23rd December at the same venue. Catch the action LIVE on Sri Lanka’s No.1 Sports Channel available on ThePapare.com.
Brief Scores:
Sri Lanka Women – 121/6 (20) Vishmi Gunaratne 39 (43), Harshitha Samarawickrama 21 (23), Hasini Perera 20 (23), Deepti Sharma 1/20, Shree Charani 1/30, Kranti Gaud 1/23
India Women – 122/2 (14.4) Jemimah Rodrigues 69* (44), Smriti Mandhana 25 (25), Harmanpreet Kaur 15* (16), Inoka Ranaweera 1/17, Kawya Kavindi 1/20
India Women won by 8 wickets.
