India Aims for Series Victory Against Struggling Sri Lanka in Women's T20
India's Quest for Series Win
India is set to secure the five-match series with a commanding performance against a struggling Sri Lanka in the third women's T20 International on Friday.
The Indian team has showcased exceptional skills with both bat and ball, achieving convincing victories of eight wickets and seven wickets in the first two T20Is held in Visakhapatnam, highlighting their dominance over Sri Lanka.
This marks India's ninth triumph in their last eleven T20 encounters against the Sri Lankan team, who last celebrated a win against India in July 2024 at Dambulla.
With a formidable batting lineup, various players have risen to the occasion in the two matches. Jemimah Rodrigues, the newly appointed captain of Delhi Capitals, excelled in the first T20I, while opener Shafali Verma played a crucial role in the second match.
The bowling attack has been equally impressive, with spinners effectively limiting Sri Lanka to scores of 121 for 6 and 128 for 9 in the two games. Young talents N Shree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, and Kranti Gaud have contributed significantly, displaying discipline and control.
India's bowling depth was evident when seasoned all-rounder Deepti Sharma missed the second T20I due to mild fever, allowing Sneh Rana to step in and deliver an economical performance of 1 for 11 in four overs.
Fielding was a concern in the first match, where India dropped five catches, but they improved significantly in the second game, executing three sharp run-outs.
Under the leadership of Harmanpreet Kaur, India aims to maintain their high standards as the series shifts to Thiruvananthapuram, where the next three matches will take place.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka hopes that the change in venue will bring a turnaround in their fortunes after suffering consecutive heavy defeats. The disparity in quality has been clear, and Sri Lanka is particularly disheartened by their batting collapses.
In both matches, Sri Lanka batted first but failed to set competitive totals. Although they showed promise initially, they lost momentum as wickets fell in clusters during the latter stages of their innings.
In the first match, Vishmi Gunaratne managed to score 39 runs off 43 balls, while Hasini Perera and Harshitha Samarawickrama also contributed but failed to accelerate the innings.
The second T20I followed a similar pattern, with Sri Lanka appearing stable until captain Chamari Athapaththu was dismissed, leading to a dramatic collapse where they lost six wickets for just 26 runs, including three run-outs, resulting in another disappointing total.
Their bowling attack has also struggled to penetrate India's robust batting lineup.
After the second T20I, Athapaththu remarked, 'We had a solid powerplay but lost a couple of wickets, then struggled in the middle overs. Our batters need to improve their approach, as we need to score over 150 when batting first. We're working on rotating the strike, but we must hit more boundaries.'
Squads
India: Harmanpreet Kaur ©, Smriti Mandhana (VC), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Harleen Deol, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Singh Thakur, Richa Ghosh (WK), G Kamalini (WK), N Shree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma.
Sri Lanka: Chamari Athapaththu ©, Hasini Perera, Vishmi Gunaratne, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Nilakshika de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Imesha Dulani, Kaushini Nuthyangana, Malsha Shehani, Inoka Ranaweera, Shashini Gimhani, Nimesha Madushani, Kawya Kavindi, Rashmika Sewwandi, Malki Madara.
The match is scheduled to begin at 7 pm.