The first T20I of the three-match series between India and Sri Lanka will be played on June 23 Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Dambulla in Sri Lanka.
Head-to-Head
India and Sri Lanka have played 18 T20Is against each other, out of which India have won 14, Sri Lanka have won three and one match did not produce a result.
Squads
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), S Meghna, Deepti Sharma, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Simran Bahadur, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Radha Yadav.
Sri Lanka: Chamari Athapaththu (Captain), Hasini Perera, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeevani, Oshadhi Ranasinghe, Sugandika Kumari, Inoka Ranaweera, Achini Kulasuriya, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Vishmi Gunaratne, Malsha Shehani, Ama Kanchana, Udeshika Prabodhani, Rashmi de Silva, Hansima Karunaratne, Kaushani Nuthyangana, Sathya Sandeepani, Tharika Sewwandi
Players to watch
Smriti Mandhana:
The vice-captain of the Indian team is a left-handed opening batter. In her 84 T20Is, she has scored 1971 runs, including 14 half-centuries. She has a healthy strike rate of 121 and will be the key to India’s batting at the top of the order.
Harmanpreet Kaur:
The captain of the Indian team is one of the best all-rounders in the limited-overs. She is a right-handed middle order batter and a right arm off-spinner. She has featured in 121 T20Is, muscled 2319 runs in 109 innings, including six half-centuries and a century and claimed 30 wickets in 55 innings.
Chamari Athapaththu:
The captain of Sri Lanka is the most experienced player in the side. She is a left-handed opening batter and a right arm off spinner. She has mustered 1915 runs in 90 T20I innings, including four half-centuries and a century. With the ball, she has scalped 30 wickets in 44 innings.
Inoka Ranaweera:
She is a left arm spinner from Sri Lanka who has been playing international cricket since 2012. She has played 48 T20Is and picked up 43 wickets. Her best bowling figures have been 9/3. The wily spinner is known for her consistency and bowls at an economy rate of under six runs per over.
Pitch
This will be the first women’s T20I that will be played at this venue. However, prior to this the stadium has hosted 14 women’s ODIs. Teams batting first have won nine matches and teams batting second have won five. Being the first match of the tournament, a fresh and hard wicket is expected. A high scoring contest could be on the cards however the cloudy conditions could work in the favour of bowlers.
Weather
The weather is expected to see considerable cloudiness with a stray thunderstorm. It will be breezy too. The average temperature will be around 27 degrees Celsius. As per the forecast, there is 40 percent chance of rain and 99 percent cloud cover. The wind will blow from the south-west.
Fantasy Playing XI
Anushka Sanjeewani, Yastika Bhatia, Hasini Perera, Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Chamari Athapaththu, Harmanpreet Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar, Inoka Ranaweera, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Rajeshwari Gayakwad
Match details
Date: June 23, 2022
Time: 2 PM IST
Venue: Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Dambulla, Sri Lanka
Live Streaming: Sri Lanka Cricket’s YouTube channel will live stream India’s tour of Sri Lanka (for Sri Lankan audience only)
Overseas – streaming
India: Fancode (Available for free)
Worldwide: http://27thsports.com
Middle East: Cineblitz: CricLife
OTT: Starz Play-Zain; STC; Ooredoo
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I am a former cricketer having represented Mumbai University at All India University level. I was a part of MCA probables for the U-19 and U-23 age group. I have been an avid cricket writer for the last five years. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D from IIT Bombay.