Pallekelle: The Indian women’s team dominated from start to finish, with both bat and ball, to take Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the second ODI and claim an unassailable 2-0 here in the three-game streak on Monday.
It’s worth noting that the Indian team’s opening players shot for the first time on the tour, sharing a 174-run collaboration to see the visitors home in just 25.4 overs and finally managing to silence their opponents after they had been pilloried for their subpar show.
The bowlers set it up for the tourists by sacking Sri Lanka for 173, and after that, Smriti Mandhana‘s stroke-filled 94 from 83 and Shefali Verma’s run-a-ball 71 paved the way for the convincing win.
The duo’s partnership is India’s best for all wickets against Sri Lanka.
After comfortably winning the first ODI, the Indians came up against a wobbly Sri Lankan team in the second game as firm favorites. The confidence of the visitors was boosted by the fact that they were also victorious in the previous three-match T20I series.
After winning the toss, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur asked Sri Lanka to bat first on a surface in favorable conditions for the bowlers.
The hosts soon found themselves in all sorts of trouble as pacesetter Renuka Singh was on track with her heights from the start.
The 26-year-old reigned supreme with the ball, with a career-best 4 for 28, rattling the Sri Lankan top order with three quick strikes.
Even when wickets fell at regular intervals, lower order Ama Kanchana held the fort for the hosts with an unbeaten 47 from 83 balls. Seasoned off-spinner Deepti Sharma’s two wickets from the last two balls helped India outplay the Lankans.
“We are talking about long collaborations. We discussed that we should give one hundred percent. The collaboration was excellent. It’s important to have bowling opportunities,” Harmanpreet said after the game.
India won the first ODI by four wickets and will try to complete a 3-0 sweep when they meet the home side in the final game on Thursday.
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