At Melbourne, when India and Sri Lanka locked horned against each other on Saturday, it turned out to be a lopsided affair, as the Women in Blue had the last laugh and concluded its group stage journey with a 100 percent success.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Sri Lanka was reduced to 113-9 in 20 overs, thanks to left-arm spinner Radha Yadav’s bowling heroics. Yadav recorded her best bowling figures as she spun the web to trap the Lankans, picking up 4-23 in her four overs. The other left-arm spinner in the form of Rajeshwari Gayakwad, too, had a wonderful time with the ball as she scalped 2-18 in her four overs. Opening the batting, Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu (33) was looking good for a big score, but when the Indians set her packing, she took away with her the hopes of posting a big total on the board. Though Kavisha Dilhari (25 not out), coming lower down the order showed some intent, she was not able to push the target to over 120-run mark.
Shafali Verma in 4 T20 World Cup innings: 🎇
Total Runs: 161
Balls faced: 100
Average: 40.25#ShafaliVerma #T20WorldCup #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/R2aCgNW9T6— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 29, 2020
In reply, India chased down the target easily in 14.4. overs, winning the match by seven wickets. Child prodigy Shafali Verma (47) was again fantastic with the bat as she along with Smriti Mandhana (17) provided a solid foundation to the team’s batting. Verma was dropped on two occasions, which later proved to be very costly for Athapaththu and co. Promoting herself up the order, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur looked good for her 15 (14), but went down against the run of play. Jemimah Rodrigues (15 not out) and Deepti Sharma (15 not out) ensured that there were no further hiccups and saw their team through. With the ball, Udeshika Prabodhani and Shashikala Siriwardene accounted for one dismissal each.
Convincing Win for 🇮🇳
India defeat Sri Lanka by 7 Wickets. #INDvSL #T20WorldCup #ShafaliVerma #SaturdayThoughts pic.twitter.com/es74Faz9A3
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 29, 2020
Winning four out of four games in the group stage, India has truly arrived Down Under and will look to carry this form with them to the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) where they will play the first semi-final on Thursday. On the other hand, Sri Lanka will clash against Bangladesh in a dead rubber on Monday at Melbourne. Both the teams have not won a single game and will look to end the tournament on a high by registering a win.
A well deserved Player of the Match for Radha Yadav for her exceptional piece of bowling. #INDvSL #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/RSY8kq9CAy
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 29, 2020
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.