India Defeat Sri Lanka Women By 5 Wickets In 2nd T20I; Attain Unassailable 2-0 Lead
After a magnificent bowling performance in the second half of the first innings, team India batters made sure the team crossed the winning line, registering a 5-wicket win and building an unassailable lead of 2-0 against Sri Lanka Women in the 3-match T20I series.
Chasing a low target of 125 runs, openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma added 30 runs in 3.3 overs for the first wicket. While Shafali was dismissed in the 4th over after scoring 17 runs off 10 balls, Smriti firmly held the other end for the first half of the second innings.
S. Meghana fell soon after Shafali, in the 6th over after scoring 17-off-10 balls as well. After Meghana's departure, captain Harmanpreet Kaur came out to bat and joined Smriti Mandhanan at a team total of 48/2.
From thereon, these two stabilized the innings and Smriti Mandhana was dismissed in the 11th over after scoring 39 runs with 8 boundaries. Mandhana also became the 3rd Indian women cricketer and fifth cricketer overall to register more than 2000+ runs in T20Is.
Star of the first T20I, Jemimah Rodrigues was dismissed cheaply for 3 runs in the 13th over, followed by Yastika Bhatia (13). However, captain Harmanpreet Kaur stood solid on the other end and scored unbeaten 31 runs off 32 balls with 2 fours as India chased down the total in 19.1 overs with 5 wickets in hand.
In the first innings, After an explosive start by the Lankans, Indian bowlers managed to pull back and restrict Sri Lanka to 125/7 in 20 overs in the 2nd T20I.
Deepti Sharma picked up 2 wickets while Renuka Singh, Radha Yadav, Pooja Vastrakar and captain Harmanpreet Kaur managed 1 wicket each.
For Sri Lanka, openers Vishmi Gunaratne (45) and captain Chamari Athapaththu (43) were the top scorers as these two etched an opening partnership of 87 runs in 13.4 overs.
Also Read: Scorecard
Earlier, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu won the toss & opted to bat first against India in the 2nd T20I. This match is being played at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Dambulla.