India Women beat current Women’s Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka Women in their 3rd Women’s T20 World Cup encounter by a whopping 82 runs and have kept their semi-final hopes alive.
India Women registered their biggest win in the history of the Women’s T20 World Cup, as they beat Sri Lanka by a huge margin. The Indian women, who faced a major setback early on after their first match loss against New Zealand women, have now set standards for themselves, eyeing a semi-final spot.
After having a commanding win over Pakistan women, India had to secure a heavy rise in their net run rate to eye a semi-final spot, and this big win against Sri Lanka is what has given them their desired spot. India women are now placed at the second spot in the points table behind Australian women.
India will feature in their final group-stage match against Australia, and if they can defeat the likes of the World Champions, then they can fix a spot in the semi-finals. However, if they lose to the World Champions, they would depend on either Sri Lanka women or Pakistan women defeating the New Zealand women, as only that would sink the Kiwis in place of the Women in Blue.
After Indian skipper Harmanpreet won the toss, openers Smriti Mandhana and Shefali Varma helped post a decent opening stand of 98 runs, as Mandhana 50 and Shafali 43 set the tone for the Indian innings, as Harmanpreet later cleared the air with a thunderous 52 as she promoted herself up the order.
Kaur never looked back, as she dominated with a 27-ball 52, an amazing score as she was promoted up the order, as India posted a respectable 172 in their innings. Bowlers Renuka Singh and Shreyanka Patil reduced the Lankans to 6/3, while Deepti, the most experienced campaigner, also played a soothing hand.
Arundhati Reddy and Asha Shobana, the new India debutants in the World Cup, picked 3 wickets each, as the pace-spin duo worked for the two players. Harmanpreet would now be in the quest to deliver the most unbelievable contest against the 6-time World Champions Australia.
