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India Secures Opening-Day World Cup Victory Over Sri Lanka
ICC Women’s World Cup, Guwahati
India 269-8 (47 overs): Amanjot 57 (56); Ranaweera 4-46
Sri Lanka 211 (45.4 overs): Athapaththu 43 (47); Sharma 3-54
India won by 59 runs (DLS)
India mounted a resilient comeback following a middle-order stumble to defeat Sri Lanka by 59 runs in a rain-affected opening match of the Women’s World Cup in Guwahati.
The host nation experienced a sudden collapse, losing four wickets for a mere four runs within 11 deliveries, including three in the 26th over at the hands of spinner Inoka Ranaweera, leaving them at a precarious 124-6.
However, Amanjot Kaur and Deepti Sharma forged a decisive 103-run partnership for the seventh wicket, capitalizing on Sri Lanka’s inability to maintain their initial fielding discipline, with Kaur benefiting from four dropped catches en route to her score of 57.
Sneh Rana injected late momentum with a brisk 28 off 15 balls, while Sharma was dismissed for 53 on the final ball of the innings as India recovered to post a competitive 269-8 from 47 overs, accounting for three overs lost due to rain delays.
Consequently, Sri Lanka’s target was adjusted to 271 from the same number of overs. They initiated their chase promisingly, reaching 82-1, but the dismissal of captain Chamari Athapaththu for 43 at the end of the 15th over significantly hampered their progress.
Athapaththu’s second-wicket partnership of 52 with Harshitha Samarawickrama kept the visitors within contention, but they lacked the batting depth displayed by India and were unable to recover from a slump to 140-6, eventually being bowled out for 211 in the 46th over.
Sharma complemented her half-century with figures of 3-54, as India entertained a vibrant crowd of 22,843 – a record attendance for a Women’s World Cup group stage match. Fellow spinners Sneh Rana and Shree Charani contributed with 2-32 and 2-37, respectively.
The tournament continues with defending champions Australia facing New Zealand in Indore on Wednesday, while England commences their campaign against South Africa on Friday.
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Sharma takes the crucial wicket of Athapaththu
In front of their home fans, all of the pre-match pressure was on India but they lay down a marker as one of the tournament favourites despite being short of their best.
The crowd were silenced by the early departure of superstar Smriti Mandhana, caught on the boundary for eight, and Sri Lanka’s disciplined bowlers kept Pratika Rawal and Harleen Deol in check as they reached 43-1 at the end of the 10-over powerplay, which was followed by the first rain delay.
Rawal fell for 37 from 59 balls, but it was Deol’s departure to Ranaweera – chipping the ball softly to cover for 48 – which sparked the chaos. Jemimah Rodrigues was bowled first ball by a slow delivery that gripped and clipped off stump before captain Harmanpreet Kaur was caught behind three balls later after trying to guide the ball past the keeper.
Sri Lanka had a golden opportunity when Richa Ghosh slashed a wide delivery from Athapaththu to point from the following over, but they could not press home their advantage as Amanjot was firstly put down on 19 by Achini Kulasuriya on the square-leg boundary.
She offered three more chances of varying difficulty on 37, 50 and 53 and by the time a catch was finally taken in the 44th over, the game had slipped far from Sri Lanka’s grasp.
A fine all-round bowling performance followed, led by Sharma as she got the key breakthrough by bowling Athapaththu, and they were rarely under pressure once she fell.
Still, a comprehensive win with a significant net run-rate boost gives India the perfect start and morale boost as they seek their first World Cup win in either format.
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Amanjot survives four drop catches to hit 57
Former England spinner Alex Hartley: “India have started really nicely. There are some cracks there; they did panic when Smriti Mandhana got out early but it was still a comprehensive win.
“Sri Lanka have certainly got more to improve on, however.”
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur: “It wasn’t an easy game. We know every game is important and will be high pressure.
“In the middle overs our batters managed well despite losing wickets. That was outstanding to watch and overall it was good game for us. All of our girls came together to win this.”
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu: “We executed our plans but we dropped a couple of wickets – Amanjot Kaur was disappointing to drop. We made a few mistakes and that has cost us the game.”
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