Deepti Sharma put on a stellar performance with both bat and ball as India recover from a tricky situation to beat Sri Lanka in Guwahati. Deepti Sharma looked like a determined person ready to fight for her country. Put into bat first, India were in trouble at 127/6 but recovered through Deepti Sharma and Amanjot Kaur’s 103-run stand for the third wicket with both scoring 50s as India made 269/8 in a rain hit game reduced to 47 overs a side.
In the defence of their target, India rode on Deepti Sharma’s 3-wicket haul and Sneh Rana and Charani’s 2-wicket hauls apiece rattles Sri Lanka as the Lankans were bowled out for 211 in 45.4 overs. A good start for India, but lot of work to do going ahead for the Women in Blue.
Amanjot Kaur & Deepti Sharma rescue India and helps them post 269/8 in 47 overs
Put into bat first, Pratika Rawal and Smriti Mandhana walked out to bat for India while Achini Kulasuriya had ball in hand for Sri Lanka. Rawal made her intentions clear by hitting a boundary via a drive square of the wicket for a boundary. Udeshika Prabodhani took the new ball from the other end and she started with a maiden over against Mandhana. Mandhana finally broke the shackles as she hit Kulasuriya for back-to-back boundaries through square leg and long leg. Prabodhani provided the breakthrough for Sri Lanka as she removed Mandhana for 8 off 10 balls with 2 fours to her name.
Prabodhani bowled it full outside off-stump, Mandhana decided to take it on as she came down the track and threw her hands at it looking to lift it over extra covers. She ended up slicing it off the outer half of the bat as Gunaratne stationed at the cover fence came forward and took a good catch after a juggle. Harleen Deol came out to bat next and got off the mark with a boundary through mid-on and midwicket region.
Kulasuriya bowled a miserly over. Deol hit Prabodhani for a boundary through backward point and cover point region. Rawal then hit Kulasuriya for a boundary through the midwicket region. Prabodhani continued as Deol hit her for a boundary guiding it to backward point and short third man. Sugandika Kumari came into the attack next. She bowled a miserly over. Prabodhani continued and bowled a decent over as India after 10 overs at the end of the first powerplay were 43/1 when rain arrived and delayed game for more than an hour reducing the game to 48 overs a side.
Kulasuriya resumed proceedings after the Break. She bowled a miserly over. Udeshika Prabodhani got the ball from the other end. She too kept things tight and under check. Kulasuriya gave nothing away as runs came in singles at the moment as the boundaries had dried up. Sugandika Kumari returned to the attack and kept things tight as India brought up their 50 in 14 overs.
Kavisha Dilhari came into the attack next. She too bowled a miserly over. Kumari continued as Rawal finally broke the shackles launching the bowler down the ground for the maximum over mid-off. Dilhari continued as the 50-run stand came up between Rawal and Deol. Deol then broke the shackles as she hit her down the ground back over the bowler’s head for a boundary. Rawal then hit Dilhari via the outside edge past the keeper for a boundary.
Inoka Ranaweera came into the attack next. She struck in her first over getting rid of Rawal for 37 off 59 balls with 3 fours and a maximum to her name. Ranaweera bowled a full and flighted delivery on the middle stump line invited Rawal outside her crease. She took the bat and swung across the line. She didn’t quite get it where she wanted on the bat. Vishmi Gunaratne at deep midwicket moved to her left and got her hands on the ball. But it popped out but she managed to get down lower to finish the catch successfully. Harmanpreet Kaur came out to bat next for India. Kaur got off the mark by a brace. So, India reached 84/2 in 20 overs.
Dilhari continued and kept things under check. Kaur broke the shackles as she pulled it from back of her crease to the vacant square leg region for a boundary. Dilhari continued and bowled a decent over. India brought up their 100 in 23.1 overs. Kaur managed to hit Ranaweera by punching it through the point region. Captain Chamari Athapaththu came into the attack next. Deol took the attack to Chamari by hitting her for back-to-back boundaries straight down the ground and then over extra cover for a boundary. After 25 overs, India were 120/2.
Ranaweera struck and got rid of Harleen Deol for 48 off 64 balls with 6 fours to her name. Ranaweera bowled a full length delivery on the off-stump line. Deol got forward looking to drive through the covers. She misjudged the pace on the flighted delivery and played a bit early. She connects off the bottom half of the bat and chipped a simple catch to Dilhari at extra cover inside the ring. Jemimah Rodrigues came out to bat next and went first ball for a golden duck as Ranaweera had two in two balls.
Ranaweera bowled a length ball on middle stump slightly turning away. Rodrigues pressed forward with a straight bat away from her front pad. She played for the straighter ball but it spun to beat the outside edge and hit the middle of the off-stump. Deepti Sharma came out to bat next and survived the hat-trick ball. Ranaweera got 3 wickets in the over as she dismissed Harmanpreet Kaur the Indian captain for 21 off 19 balls with 2 fours to her name.
Ranaweera bowled a short of a length arm ball outside off-stump. Kaur came back in the crease to cut it but got a feather of an outside edge. Anushka Sanjeewani kept her hands in the right place and snared a very good catch. Richa Ghosh came out to bat next and got off the mark straightaway. Chamari continued and she also joined in the fun dismissing Richa Ghosh for 2 off 6 balls.
Chamari bowled a good length delivery pitching wide of the off-stump. Ghosh rocked back in the crease and used her wrists to cut the ball square in the off-side. She hit it uppishly and picked up Udeshika Prabodhani at cover point. Amanjot Kaur came into the crease next. Ranaweera continued and bowled a miserly over. Deepti broke the shackles as she hit Chamari for a boundary by the sweep to deep backward square leg. Deepti hit another boundary off Chamari by sweeping it fine past short fine leg for a boundary. Drinks was taken at this juncture with India in a spot of bother.
Ranaweera resumed after the Break as Amanjot broke the shackles by slog sweeping it over mid-on for a boundary. Dilhari returned to the bowling crease as Amanjot clipped it away fine. The long leg ran hard to her right but failed to cut it off. The 100 came up for India in 30.3 overs. Ranaweera continued as Kaur swept the bowler fine over deep backward square leg for a boundary. Dilhari continued as Amanjot was now dropped by Achini Kulasuriya at deep backward square leg as a chance went begging.
Sugandika Kumari came back into the attack. She bowled a miserly over. Kaur then launched Dilhari by slog sweeping over deep midwicket for a maximum. The 50-run stand came up between the two players. Deepti was into it again as she swept behind square for a boundary. Sugandika Kumari bowled a decent over. Udeshika Prabodhani came back into the attack again. Amanjot took Prabodhani on as she drove it crisply through the covers for a boundary.
Kumari continued as Amanjot was a cat with many lives. Nilakshi de Silva the culprit who ran in from the deep and dived but could not hold onto it. Prabodhani returned to the attack as Amanjot Kaur swiped it behind square. Deep square leg ran to her fight and dived full length to beat her on the ropes. The 100 came up for India in 38.5 overs.
Soon, Amanjot Kaur got to her fifty in 45 balls as India recovered from a precarious position. India reached 210/6 in 40 overs when the rain returned and stopped play for 5-10 minutes. This meant that the game was further reduced to 47 overs a side now due to the rain.
Ranaweera kicked things off after the break. Amanjot got another reprieve as the top edge should have have been taken by the bowler who puts it down. Ranaweera bowled a decent over. Kaur got another reprieve as Amanjot hit the aerial shot up in the air as the catch was once again put down. The 100-run stand came up between the two players. Udeshika Prabodhani came back into the attack. Prabodhani broke the big stand and removed Amanjot Kaur for 57 off 56 balls with 5 fours and a maximum to her name.
The bowler from around the wicket bowled a length ball on the off-stump line. Amanjot was down one knee swinging across the line playing the pick up shot. Deep midwicket charged towards the right keeping her eyes on the ball and put in an excellent dive to complete the catch. Sneh Rana came out to bat next and got off the mark soon. Kulasuriya came back into the attack. Kulasuriya bowled another tight over as India reached 235/7 in 45 overs.
Rana took the attack to India as she smashed Udeshika Prabodhani by hitting the bowler past mid-off for a boundary. Sri Lanka took the review against Deepti but it was wasted as Deepti got an inside edge onto her pads. The review was wasted. Deepti got to her fifty in 50 balls. Rana then launched Prabodhani for the maximum over deep square leg to keep the momentum forward. The bowler overstepped but the free hit yielded just a single.
Rana then took the attack to Kulasuriya by smashing her flat and hard over midwicket for the maximum. The bowler gave away 4 leg byes to the batting side. Rana then clubbed down the ground flat batting it to long-on for a boundary. Kulasuriya then got the wicket of Deepti Sharma off the final ball of the game for 53 off 53 balls with 3 fours to their name.
Kulasuriya bowled on a length pitching close to the leg stump line. She lost her shape while trying to heave the ball in the onside. She got the elevation as the ball went too high in the air. Sugandika Kumari from deep midwicket ran in and slid to her left to complete the catch. Sneh Rana remained unbeaten on 28 off 15 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to her name. 15 extras given by the bowling side.
Inoka Ranaweera was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka as she finished with excellent figures of 4/46 in 9 overs. Udeshika Prabodhani bowled well for her 2/55 in 10 overs. Achini Kulasuriya chipped in with 1/42 in 8 overs. Captain Chamari Athapaththu chipped in with 1/24 in 3 overs. Sugandika Kumari gave away 46 runs in 9 overs while Kavisha Dilhari gave away 51 runs in 8 overs. It meant that Sri Lanka needed a revised adjusted target of 271 runs to win off 47 overs.
All-Round Bowling Display led by Deepti Sharma helps India skittle Sri Lanka out for 211 to win the match
Chasing 271 for the win in 47 overs, Hasini Perera and captain Chamari Athapaththu came out to bat for Sri Lanka while Kranti Goud had ball in hand for India. Goud bowled a tidy first over. Amanjot Kaur shared the new ball at the other end. Chamari broke the shackles by slicing Amanjot for a boundary to backward point region. Perera then thrashed Goud through the diving point region for a boundary. Kaur bowled a tidy over. Chamari then launched Goud for the maximum by carving over point fence.
Amanjot kept things quiet at one end. Perera broke the shackles by hitting over backward point region for a boundary. But Goud fought back as she picked up Perera for 14 off 20 balls with 2 fours to her name. Goud bowled a good length delivery on off-stump, Perera bent her back leg and looked to slog it across the line and missed the ball completely and saw the ball crash onto the off-stump. It was a loose shot from Perera. Harshitha Samarawickrama came out to bat next.
Samarawickrama hit Amanjot for a boundary through short third man. She took the attack to Amanjot again by driving her through the covers. Harshitha was in the groove as she glanced it to the fine leg region for a boundary. Goud bowled a tight over as well. Sri Lanka were 45/1 in 9 overs at the end of the powerplay. Sneh Rana came into the attack and bowled a tight over. Deepti Sharma was introduced into the attack next. She was welcomed into the bowling crease by a maximum as Chamari launched it over mid-off. Chamari then used her crease and went through over backward point for a boundary. Rana continued and bowled a tight over.
Deepti continued as Chamari hit her down the ground straight as an arrow for a boundary. She then launched Deepti for the maximum down the ground over long-off. Chamari was on a roll as she hit Rana for a boundary past the keeper. The 50-run stand came up between Chamari and Harshitha. Deepti then provided the breakthrough for India as she dismissed Chamari Athapaththu for 43 off 47 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes to her name.
Deepti from around the wicket bowled a full length ball angled back with the arm. Chamari came forward and hammered it down the ground but the ball landed right underneath her bat moving straight through to clean up the middle and leg stump. Vishmi Gunaratne came out to bat next. Rana bowled a miserly over. Deepti Sharma too kept things under check. Rana too gave nothing away as boundaries had dried up.
Nallapureddy Charani came out to bowl next. Charani too kept things tight. Rana also bowled a tidy over as Sri Lanka reached 95/2 in 20 overs. Charani once again bowled a good over. Soon, the 100 came up for Sri Lanka in 21.2 overs. Charani got the breakthrough for India as Samarawickrama fell for 29 off 45 balls with 3 fours to her name.
Charani bowled slightly quicker through the air on a good length pitching well outside the off-stump but spun back in. Harshitha was down on one knee trying to play an awkward sweep without getting in shape. She got beaten on the inside edge and is struck on the back thigh pad. The batter reviewed and it was umpire’s call on impact. The batter left but the review was retained. Kavisha Dilharu came out to bat next.
Amanjot Kaur came back into the attack and she removed Vishmi Gunaratne for 11 off 28 balls. Amanjot bowled a full and straight ball angled back at the middle stump line. Gunaratne on the front foot pushed forward got beaten on the inside edge and was struck on the front pad below the knee roll. It looked OUT. The batter reviewed it and saw Three Reds on Hawkeye. So, the review was lost as well. Nilakshi de Silva walked out to bat next.
Dilhari hit Charani for a boundary by playing a cheeky shot by paddling it fine. Dilhari was on a roll as she hit Dilhari again for a boundary this time over Richa Ghosh. Sri Lanka were 118/4 in 25 overs. Nilakshi hit Amanjot for a boundary through the midwicket region. India appealed for LBW and appealed against Nilakshi but it was turned down and they burnt the review as well. De Silva cut it past diving backward point for a boundary.
Deepti came back and got rid of Dilhari for 15 off 12 balls with 2 fours to her name. Deepti bowled a short delivery on the stumps turning on the pads, Dilhari looked to flick it but may have got a faint edge on this one. Richa behind the stumps moved to her left and completed a fine diving catch. There was a spike on ultraedge and the decision was reversed from NOT OUT to OUT. Anushka Sanjeewani came into the crease next. Deepti bowled a miserly over.
Charani too kept things tight. Sanjeewani broke the shackles by hitting Deepti Sharma for a boundary via the slog sweep to deep square leg. Deepti got rid of Sanjeewani for 6 off 10 balls with a boundary to her name. Deepti tossed it up on the fuller side outside off-stump, Sanjeewani went for a slog sweep over short midwicket but failed to get the desired result and elevation. Harmanpreet took the catch easily. Sugandika Kumari came out to bat next.
Kranti Goud returned to the bowling crease. Silva managed to hit a boundary in front of square in the leg side. Deepti Sharma bowled a tight over as the 150 came up in 30.4 overs for Sri Lanka. Nilakshi smashed Goud down the ground for a boundary. Rana returned to the bowling crease and bowled a tight over. Silva then took on Charani and heaved it away over cow corner for the maximum. Silva was put down in the deep by Goud off Rana’s bowling. But Rana was not to be denied as she removed de Silva for 35 off 29 balls with 4 fours and a maximum to her name.
Rana bowled a good length ball pitching on the middle stump line, going straight with the arm. Nilakshi down on a knee shuffled across to scoop over fine leg but dragged it back on the off-stump. Achini Kulasuriya came out to bat next. Kulasuriya hit Deepti by a good sweep shot square of the wicket through the deep midwicket region. Kulasuriya hit Deepti Sharma again through the leg side for a boundary to midwicket region.
Rana returned and got rid of Kumari for 10 off 19 balls. She bowled a good length off-break pitched on the middle stump line. Sugandika was down on one knee to sweep again but played down the wrong line. The ball spun a bit and rattled the off-stump. Udeshika Prabodhani came out to bat next. Kulasuriya hit Deepti for a boundary through third man. Pratika Rawal came onto the attack late in the night. She bowled a decent first over for herself. Deepti too bowled a tight over as Sri Lanka reached 190/8 in 40 overs.
India burnt another review this time against Prabodhani as Rawal was the bowler. Prabodhani hit Goud for a boundary through an outside edge to third man. Charani then got rid of Kulasuriya for 17 off 31 balls with 3 fours to her name. Length delivery from Charani outside the off-stump line. The batter got down on one knee and is in no shape to play the slog sweep and got a top edge down the ground. The ball went high up in the air with Mandhana at long-on taking the catch after settling underneath the catch. Inoka Ranaweera came out to bat next and got off the mark as the 200 came up for Sri Lanka in 42.4 overs.
Goud continued as Prabodhani got a boundary away via an outside edge down to third man over the keeper’s head. Charani bowled a tight over. Rawal eventually got the last wicket to fall as she dismissed Ranaweera for 3 off 8 balls. Pratika bowled a flighted delivery that came in with the angle on the stumps, Ranaweera planted her front leg and looked to defend but got beaten on the inside edge to wear it on the front pad. The finger was raised as the batter sent it upstairs in hope. Three Reds on Ball Tracking as she had to depart as Sri Lanka’s inning ended at 211 in 45.4 overs. Prabodhani remained unbeaten on 14 off 26 balls with 2 boundaries to her name. 14 extras given by the fielding side as Sri Lanka lost the game by 59 runs under DLS method.
Deepti Sharma was the pick of the bowlers for India with figures of 3/54 in 10 overs. Sneh Rana bowled really well for her 2/32 in 10 overs. Nallapureddy Charani chipped in with 2/37 in 8 overs. Kranti Goud got a wicket and finished with 1/41 in 9 overs. Amanjot Kaur chipped in with 1/37 in 6 overs. Pratika Rawal finished things off nicely and finished with 1/6 in 2.4 overs. So, India win by 59 runs under DLS method and for her all-round performance, Deepti Sharma was awarded Player of the Match Award.
What Lies Ahead
Game 2 of the World Cup 2025 features Trans-Tasman rivals as defending reigning 7-time Champions takes on 1-time champions New Zealand from Indore at 3 PM IST on 1st October 2025. Who will win this clash of heavyweights? Only time will tell.
Join us tomorrow for another thriller between two top teams and it is about who starts well and have bragging rights against each other.
Also Read: ICC Women’s ODI WC 2025: Kranti Gaud & Deepti Sharma Dent Sri Lanka’s Run Chase