It’s Indian women, who drew the first blood of the Sri Lanka women vs India women 2018 ongoing One-day International series. Mithali Raj‘s India dismantled the Islanders in their backyard. It was an impressive performance by the Indian bowlers which was backed by Smriti Mandhana’s onslaught to register a convincing nine-wicket victory in Galle ODI.
Sri Lanka never looked like staying in the game, as Indians were dominating right from the coin toss. Apart from Sri Lanka’s skipper Chamari Atapattu, none of the Islanders looked like troubling Indian women’s team.
Seven Islanders registered single digit score:
Initially, it was the Lankan skipper, who won the toss and asked the visitors to roll their arms. Accepting the challenge, Indian bowlers responded well by rattling three wickets for just 18 runs in the span of 10 overs.
Mansi Joshi grabbed a couple while Jhulan Goswami picked a wicket in their first spell. Then it was the turn of the spinners. Poonam Yadav and Rajeshwari Gayakwad made the life hard for the batswomen to keep India on track.
If not Sripally Weerakkody’s 26 in the end and the skipper Chamari’s 33 at the top, it would have been even worse for the hosts.
Despite the duo getting the starts, they failed to capitalise on it to put a respectable tally on the board.
All they managed is to put 98 runs on the board after batting for 35 overs in the game. Mansi finished with three wickets while Jhulan and Poonam picked a couple of wickets each.
Smriti Mandhana makes light work of it:
In reply to the chase of 99 runs, as usual, India got the solid start with Smriti Mandhana smacking the boundaries often than not. She played in her regular attacking zone to smash Lankan bowlers all corners of the park.
Smriti finished her fifty in 42 balls to guide the team to the victory. Punam Raut on the other end played a decent role by giving the strike back to Mandhana. However, she was dismissed when India was nearing to register an emphatic victory.
Brief Scores – Sri Lanka women vs India women 2018:
Sri Lanka – 98-all out (Chamari 33; Mansi Joshi 3/16, Jhulan 2/14)
India – 100/1 (Smriti Mandhana 73*; Inoka Ranaweera 1/5)
Match Result – India Women beat Sri Lanka Women by nine wickets with 30.1 overs left in the Galle ODI.
