Another brilliant knock by the young 18 year old Jemimah Rodrigues along with support from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has helped India achieve a second successive win over Sri Lanka in the ongoing T20I series. India has now attained an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series with two more matches to go.
Jemimah scored an exciting 57 of just 40 deliveries ensuring that India was not troubled in their chase of 132 runs. She was well supported by the skipper Harmanpreet, where the duo put on 53 runs for the fourth wicket and to get within the reach of the set target.
Earlier in the day, India on winning the toss, elected to field first. The Lankans got off to a slow start managing to score only 52 runs in the first 10 overs for loss of 3 wickets. Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu anchored the start of the innings scoring 28 runs in 32 balls.
Shashikala Siriwardene tried to up the ante and made 35 runs in 32 balls. The run rate of Sri Lankan innings was propelled by an aggressive knock by all rounder Nilakshi De Silva who managed to score 31 runs in just 20 deliveries. Her innings included 3 fours and 1 six.
Arundhati Reddy bowled brilliantly picking up 2 wickets and conceding only 19 runs in her allocated 4 overs and also affecting 2 runouts in the innings. A brilliant move by Harmanpreet Kaur who brought herself into the attack in the penultimate over of the innings, she picked up 2 wickets and conceded only 3 runs. The Sri Lankans could manage 131 runs for the loss of 8 wickets.
The Indians like the Lankans did not get off to a good start when Prabodhani picked up the in-form Mandhana for just 6 runs with only 11 on the board. Siriwardene struck in the 7th over picking up Mithali with India struggling at 38 runs for the loss of 2 wickets. However, Jemimah continued her aggressive batting at one end and when the skipper Harmanpreet joined her, both of them put on a half century stand for the 4th wicket which ensured that India were well placed in the chase.
Jemimah’s knock of 57 included 6 fours and 2 sixes. Harmanpreet was also at her best managing to score 24 in 19 deliveries. Just when it looked like India were cruising to victory, the Lankan skipper picked 2 crucial wickets of both the set batsman in the same over with India still needing 19 runs in 4 overs.
However, Veda Krishnamurthy and Anuja Patil played with great responsibility ensuring that the Indians reached the target without any more hiccups with 10 balls and 5 wickets to spare. With this win, India has now ensured that they can’t lose the series with the 2nd game being washed out due to rains. The 4th T20 will take place on Monday at the same venue. The Lankans will have to win in order to keep the series alive. The Indians will look to experiment in the remaining 2 games and try out their bench to finalise the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the Carribean.
Also Read : 4th T20I – All round Anuja Patil and dazzling Jemimah Cruise India to a series win
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