122/2 (14.4)
CR : 8.32
121/6 (20.0)
CR : 6.05
India Women won by 8 wickets π
Player of the Match
Jemimah Rodrigues
69(44)
10:01 PM IST, Local Time: Team India continue their winning juggernaut from one-day internationals into the shortest format as well registering an 8-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the series opener at Visakhapatnam.
Winning the toss, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur elected to bowl first handing a debut to left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma. Tight spells from Sharma (0/16), Deepti Sharma (1/20 with a maiden) and Arundhati Reddy (0/23) kept Sri Lanka's total at 121/6. Opener Vishmi Gunaratne top scored with 39 off 43 balls.
India lost Shafali Verma in the 2nd over itself for 9 but Smriti Mandhana (25 off 25) and Jemimah Rodrigues (69* off 44) added 54 runs for the 2nd wicket. The pair was separated when Mandhana was caught in the deep with 55 runs required to win in 71 balls.
Harmanpreet Kaur (15* off 16) at number 4 just had to bat around Rodrigues who smashed 10 fours in her unbeaten knock adding 55 without a dent with Harmanpreet to take India home in the 15th over.
Smriti Mandhana achieved another landmark during her knock becoming the 2nd women player in the world to score over 4000 runs in T20 internationals after New Zealand's Suzie Bates. She is also the third Indian after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to achieve the feat.
Left arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera who will soon turn 40 used her experience well and conceded only 17 runs in 3.4 overs accounting for Mandhana's wicket. Kawya Kavindi (1/20) bowled a good spell with the new ball with skipper Chamari Athapaththu (0/16) rolling her arm for a couple of overs but there were never enough runs on the board for Sri Lanka to pose any kind of threat to a strong Indian top order.
Stay tuned for the post match presentation.
Winning the toss, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur elected to bowl first handing a debut to left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma. Tight spells from Sharma (0/16), Deepti Sharma (1/20 with a maiden) and Arundhati Reddy (0/23) kept Sri Lanka's total at 121/6. Opener Vishmi Gunaratne top scored with 39 off 43 balls.
India lost Shafali Verma in the 2nd over itself for 9 but Smriti Mandhana (25 off 25) and Jemimah Rodrigues (69* off 44) added 54 runs for the 2nd wicket. The pair was separated when Mandhana was caught in the deep with 55 runs required to win in 71 balls.
Harmanpreet Kaur (15* off 16) at number 4 just had to bat around Rodrigues who smashed 10 fours in her unbeaten knock adding 55 without a dent with Harmanpreet to take India home in the 15th over.
Smriti Mandhana achieved another landmark during her knock becoming the 2nd women player in the world to score over 4000 runs in T20 internationals after New Zealand's Suzie Bates. She is also the third Indian after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to achieve the feat.
Left arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera who will soon turn 40 used her experience well and conceded only 17 runs in 3.4 overs accounting for Mandhana's wicket. Kawya Kavindi (1/20) bowled a good spell with the new ball with skipper Chamari Athapaththu (0/16) rolling her arm for a couple of overs but there were never enough runs on the board for Sri Lanka to pose any kind of threat to a strong Indian top order.
Stay tuned for the post match presentation.
Most Runs in WT20Is:
4716 β Suzie Bates (New Zealand)
4007β Smriti Mandhana (India)
3669 β Harmanpreet Kaur (India)
3473 β Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka)
3437 β Sophie Devine (New Zealand)
4716 β Suzie Bates (New Zealand)
4007β Smriti Mandhana (India)
3669 β Harmanpreet Kaur (India)
3473 β Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka)
3437 β Sophie Devine (New Zealand)
India Women register their first-ever 50+ partnerships for the second and third wickets in a Womenβs T20I innings.
Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka Women Captain): "Yeah, exactly. 120 is not a good total to defend. We have to bounce back in the next game. We have done so many mistakes in the middle. I think we have to play positive cricket in the middle.
The thing is we have to assess the conditions. But we can't blame the conditions. We are playing professional cricket and we can't blame the conditions. We have to bounce back in the next game.
Actually, we have to improve few areas in batting. We have to play positive cricket in the next game. As a batting unit, we are playing defensive cricket which doesn't work in T20 cricket.
Definitely. As a captain, I always try to lead from the front. Unfortunately, I got out early today. We have a lot of youngsters but I trust them. The selectors have given the youngsters an opportunity and hopefully, they play their best cricket in the next game."
The thing is we have to assess the conditions. But we can't blame the conditions. We are playing professional cricket and we can't blame the conditions. We have to bounce back in the next game.
Actually, we have to improve few areas in batting. We have to play positive cricket in the next game. As a batting unit, we are playing defensive cricket which doesn't work in T20 cricket.
Definitely. As a captain, I always try to lead from the front. Unfortunately, I got out early today. We have a lot of youngsters but I trust them. The selectors have given the youngsters an opportunity and hopefully, they play their best cricket in the next game."
Harmanpreet Kaur (India Women Captain): "With bat and ball we did well but we are working hard on our fielding, I don't know why we are dropping catches. It's wet no doubt about it but it is not an excuse.
[on whether she would like to bat first] We are also playing after a long time so we don't want to unnecessary challenge ourselves. Today we wanted to chase and that went really well. It's better to go with the situation and show a better approach."
[on whether she would like to bat first] We are also playing after a long time so we don't want to unnecessary challenge ourselves. Today we wanted to chase and that went really well. It's better to go with the situation and show a better approach."
Player of the Match: Jemimah Rodrigues
Jemimah Rodrigues (Player of the Match): "Hundred percent. That was my mindset. When I'm hitting the balls good, make full use of it.
For me, it was important to assess the conditions. It was a bit sticky. Not as flat as we thought. But I was in a good touch and I just tried to keep going. Just tried to react to the ball and play according to its merit.
We have been doing really well. What has happened in the past has happened. What's next for us. It's T20 World Cup 2026. We want to prepare for it and win every game before that.
Our video analyst Andy Sir told us to watch her (Shashini Gimhani) videos. She's a mystery spinner. She's a rising star for Sri Lanka. I knew her action before and I tried to hit it over the fielder."
For me, it was important to assess the conditions. It was a bit sticky. Not as flat as we thought. But I was in a good touch and I just tried to keep going. Just tried to react to the ball and play according to its merit.
We have been doing really well. What has happened in the past has happened. What's next for us. It's T20 World Cup 2026. We want to prepare for it and win every game before that.
Our video analyst Andy Sir told us to watch her (Shashini Gimhani) videos. She's a mystery spinner. She's a rising star for Sri Lanka. I knew her action before and I tried to hit it over the fielder."
An excellent comeback on the field for the Indian Women's side - champions of one-day cricket. The crowd has been chanting songs since the start of the match and is still singing praises for the Indian side. A brilliant bowling display was followed by an excellent approach in the chase. Jemimah Rodrigues starring with the bat continuing her good form in this series as well.
On that note we bid adieu from Visakhapatnam, the 2nd T20I will be played at the same ground on Tuesday! Ninaad Dixit here signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Akshay Bhide, scorer Raju Khariya and statistician Aman. Stay tuned for more action from around the world.
On that note we bid adieu from Visakhapatnam, the 2nd T20I will be played at the same ground on Tuesday! Ninaad Dixit here signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Akshay Bhide, scorer Raju Khariya and statistician Aman. Stay tuned for more action from around the world.