Women’s T20 World Cup: India beat Sri Lanka by 82 runs; boost net run rate to +0.560
India secured a morale-boosting victory against Sri Lanka in their group stage match of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. Harmanpreet Kaur and her team triumphed by 82 runs at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday, October 9, moving to second place in the points table. Their chances of reaching the semi-finals were boosted as they increased their net run rate to +0.560 from -1.217.
India achieved their biggest victory in terms of margin of runs in the history of the T20 World Cup. In 2014, they secured a 79-run victory over Bangladesh in Sylhet, their largest win prior to this. Sri Lanka’s loss resulted in them becoming the second team, following Scotland, to be eliminated from the competition.
Meanwhile, New Zealand would feel pressure after dropping to fourth place in the points table with a negative net run rate of -0.050. As far as India is concerned, their final league match will be against the defending champions Australia, who have won all of their previous games.
Harmanpreet Kaur lead India’s strong batting display
Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana led India’s strong batting display as the two star batters smashed half-centuries in grand style.
Harmanpreet Kaur, mainly, looked in ominous form as she smacked Sri Lankan bowlers to all parts of the ground. The right-handed batter smashed an unbeaten 52 off just 27 balls with the help of eight fours and a six. She powered her way to a personal fastest half-century in T20Is off just 27 balls, demonstrating her strength in the shorter version of the game.
Mandhana also played a crucial knock for India as she scored 50 off 38 before getting run out. Shafali Verma also exhibited her talent by scoring 43 runs and setting a new record as the youngest batter to reach 2000 runs in Women’s T20Is, surpassing Irish batter Gaby Lewis. Batting first, India put up a total of 172 for three on the board.
Also read: Women’s T20 WC: Why India is hoping New Zealand defeats Australia today
Indian bowlers bundle out Sri Lanka cheaply
Chasing a big total, Sri Lanka ran into trouble when they were pushed to 28 for three during the powerplay. Athapaththu’s poor performance persisted as Shreyanka Patil got her out for just one run. Renuka Singh removed two of their top batters Vishmi Gunaratne and Harshitha Samarawickrama. Sri Lanka were ultimately bowled out for just 90 runs in 19.5 overs.
Arundhati Reddy continued her great form by taking three wickets and ended with figures of 4-0-19-3. With 7 wickets in the tournament, she is the highest wicket taker for India in this World Cup.
Leg-spinner Asha Sobhana also impressed with her bowling skills as she finished with figures of figures of 4-0-19-3.
