ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024: Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana & Shafali Varma Annihilate Sri Lanka Women & Boost Their NRR

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As the buzzer hooted to signal drinks during the India-Sri Lanka clash in Dubai, Harmanpreet Kaur, who had been slouching on her chair and gently massaging her neck, suddenly picked up two bats and galloped down the steps from the gallery to a wider space around the boundary edge.

One bat tucked behind the other, Harmanpreet Kaur went through the full range of motions of the kind she would practice at the driving range, focusing on her neck position and movements while completing her swing. Once happy with where she was at, Harmanpreet Kaur quickly jogged back up and pulled up a chair next to coach Amol Muzumdar.

The head coach had just returned after having a chat with openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma at the drinks interval. India had set themselves a strong base at 78 without loss; now it was time to inject momentum. After a quick chat with Muzumdar, Harmanpreet Kaur was ready to rumble having selected her weapon of destruction.

Pitch Report and Toss

“It has gotten a bit cooler. Dimensions – 57 and 63 meters on the square, 73 straight down the ground. The surface has been drier generally, but during the evening the ball skids on a bit better,” reckon Ian Bishop and WV Raman.

India Women skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and chose to bat with no changes in the Playing XI. Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu bowling made one change to their playing XI bringing in Ama Kanchana back in the side for Hasini Perera.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s half century steers India to 172 for 3

After a couple of indifferent batting performances to start the tournament, the creme de la creme of India’s batting rose to the stakes. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur (52* off 27) and her deputy Smriti Mandhana (50 off 38) scored impressive half-centuries while Shafali Verma set the tone for the innings, scoring 43 in an opening partnership of 98. The total of 172/3 – the highest in the tournament so far – proved to be too steep a mountain to climb for Sri Lanka, who had been grappling with batting insecurities even before this game.

The Indian top order set up the win with a blistering display of hitting in Dubai, building off a solid platform to smash the biggest score of the tournament so far.

Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana starred as India’s put Sri Lanka to the sword having won the toss and opted to bat first in the crucial Group A contest. Mandhana hit a sublime 50 (38 balls), putting on a stand of 98 for the first wicket with Shafali Verma (43) to set India up for a big total.

India Women Batting Line Up.  Pic Credits: ESPNCricinfo
India Women Batting Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNCricinfo

And captain Harmanpreet Kaur launched India up to the tournament’s highest total, plundering 52 runs from just 27 deliveries, and finishing off her knock with back-to-back fours to reach a total of 172/3. Earlier, Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bat first against Sri Lanka in Dubai. And the Indian openers took advantage of the opportunity to put runs on the board, building a strong partnership to end the powerplay unbeaten.

It was Shafali Verma who set the early tempo against a spin-heavy Sri Lanka attack, with Smriti Mandhana getting in on the act after giving herself time to get in. Mandhana hit the game’s first maximum, and at the halfway point of the innings the pair were still out in the middle, with the score accelerating to 78/0.

Mandhana reached her half century, but Sri Lanka hit back with two wickets in two balls, with Mandhana run out for 50 before Verma departed for 43. Yet the wickets did little to stem India’s flow, as Jemimah Rodrigues hit a quickfire 16 (10) and Richa Ghosh contributed a run-a-ball 6* , both playing a supporting role to an extravagant knock from the captain.

Harmanpreet Kaur’s innings was arguably the best of the tournament so far, with the Indian skipper slamming nine boundaries to finish unbeaten on 52* from just 27 deliveries, boosting her side’s total to 172/3 – the highest so far at this World Cup.

India took their time to get going after opting to take first strike. It was only midway through the third over that Verma chipped a Udeshika Prabodhani delivery over extra cover for the team’s first boundary. She found a boundary each in the next two overs before her partner, Mandhana, finally broke the shackles in the final over of the Powerplay. After making only eight from her first 12 deliveries, the Indian vice-captain made room and slammed Sugandika Kumari down the ground for a boundary to give India a 41-run PowerPlay

Sri Lanka Women Bowling Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo
Sri Lanka Women Bowling Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo

It was a shot that would come to define Mandhana’s innings on the night. After hitting India’s first six of the tournament by lofting Inoka Ranaweera over long-on, Mandhana went through her gears by shuffling away to give herself enough leverage to hit even balls pitching outside leg-stump, inside-out over extra cover. India managed 37 runs in the first four overs after the PowerPlay by when Mandhana had overtaken her fast-starting partner.

The pair of Mandhana and Verma, who achieved a record-equalling feat of registering 20 stands of 50 or more runs in T20Is, was finally separated in the 13th over after a 98-run opening partnership when the former was run-out two balls after completing a 36-ball half-century. Verma was dismissed off the very next ball, attempting to flick a Chamari Athapaththu delivery across the line, only to get a leading edge to point.

However, India needed just an over of stabilization before they began setting themselves up for another push. If Mandhana targeted the off-side, her captain Harmanpreet Kaur  opted for the most old-fashioned slogs and swipes through cow corner. A six and a four off Sugandika got her going. Two more fours came off the Athapaththu over and another brace arrived in the 19th over bowled by Ama Kanchana.

Harmanpreet Kaur began the final over of the innings on 41 but hit back-to-back fours to complete a 27-ball half-century – the fastest for her and by an Indian batter in Women’s T20 World Cups. After managing only 12 fours over the first two games, India hit 18 fours and two sixes in a single innings to leave their opponents with a very tall order.

Before Wednesday, India’s opening stands against Pakistan and New Zealand were 18 and 11 respectively. In a tournament where batting first seemed to give teams an advantage, India batted second in both their matches. India got to bat first after Harmanpreet Kaur won her first toss and the openers set about their task steadily.

Sri Lanka pressed their spinners into service and both Shafali Verma and Mandhana found it tough to break free. Shafali took the aerial route for India’s first four in the third over and did so again in the fourth and the fifth. She was on 24 off 20 in the fifth over; at that point Mandhana was on 6 off 10. But in a pattern different from the previous game, she was not being impatient or trying too hard.

Mandhana finally got going with a smack over the left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari’s head as India ended the powerplay on 41 for 0. She also slogged another left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera for a six over wide long-on in the next year to signal the gear change. India managed to hit at least one four in each over between the third and the ninth. Chamari Athapaththu kept India guessing by giving her bowlers one-over spells till the 13th over, by then Mandhana overtook Shafali to get to a fourth T20 World Cup half-century.

It took a run-out to end India’s opening partnership at 98, their third-highest in T20 World Cups, when Athapaththu and Ama Kanchana – brought in for Hasini Perera – combined to catch Mandhana short on 50. On the very next ball, Athapaththu had Shafali miscuing a heave to cover. That over meant Athapaththu ended the one-spell strategy and bowled a second over in the spell – the 13th and the 15th overs.

Having batted at No. 4 against Pakistan, Harmanpreet Kaur came in at No. 3 and was soon joined by Jemimah Rodrigues before she even faced a ball. Few batters in the Indian line-up are at ease against spin than Rodrigues. She used the sweep to first put Ranaweera away and then moved in her crease to pull Athapaththu to the deep square leg boundary.

At the other end, Harmanpreet Kaur hit Kumari for a four and a six to ensure the openers’ platform did not go to waste. Rodrigues soon fell for 16 off 10 – she was given a life at 13 when Kavisha Dilhari dropped a dolly at deep midwicket – but played a vital role in injecting momentum after two quick wickets.

By then, Harmanpreet Kaur, with a cushion of a long batting line-up to follow, cut loose. She first paddled Kanchana past short fine leg before hitting two fours to spoil Athapaththu’s figures.

Ranaweera could not hang on to a powerful hit at cover when Harmanpreet Kaur was on 22. She hit Kanchana and Prabodhani for two fours each in the last two overs to bring up only her third half-century in T20Is since the 2023 T20 World Cup. That blitz – 52 not out off just 27 balls – helped India take 46 off the last four overs, the most by any team in this T20 World Cup.

She had retired hurt against Pakistan due to a neck injury, and had come for the toss with a pain-relief patch on the right side of her neck but was termed fit for this game. However, she did not take the field in the chase, with Mandhana captaining the team.

Arundhati Reddy and Asha Shobhana bowls India to 82 runs win over SL

Sri Lanka’s reply started in dramatic fashion as substitute fielder Radha Yadav took a blinding catch off just the second ball of the innings to send Vishmi Gunaratne back to the dugout. The dangerous pair of Chamari Athapaththu (1) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (3) were removed early to set India on the path to victory.

And every bowler returned tidy figures as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 90, with Arundhati Reddy, Asha Sobhana and Renuka Singh the stand-out contributors.

India were in a dominant position thanks to their fiery first-innings effort, but the drama ramped up another notch off just the second ball of Renuka Singh’s opening over, when Gunaratne skied a shot high into the Dubai sky and substitute fielder Yadav produced a moment of magic to hold on to a diving catch. The reaction of her teammates said it all, and a buoyed India soon took a stranglehold on the game.

Sri Lanka Women Batting Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo
Sri Lanka Women Batting Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo

Shreyanka Patil delivered the crucial blow, drawing the outside edge from Sri Lanka captain Athapaththu (1), who shook her head in dismay as her disappointing tournament continued. And another edge behind accounted for Samarawickrama (3) as Renuka bagged her second of the innings.

Defiant knocks from Anushka Sanjeewani (20), Kavisha Dilhari (21) and Ama Kanchana (19) saw Sri Lanka draw the game out, but the required rate had long since become unattainable before Sri Lanka were finally bowled out with just one ball remaining in the innings, still 82 runs shy of their target.

It wasn’t just the batting that found its mark on the day for India. Their fielding, so often their bugbear, came good off just the second ball when substitute fielder Radha Yadav completed a diving take running back from backward point under a Vishmi Gunaratne skier. Renuka Thakur, the wicket-taker, added another wicket in her second over when she had Harshitha Madavi nicking to the keeper. Between those two dismissals, Shreyanka Patil extracted over four degrees of turn to have Athapaththu edging a defensive push to first slip.

After losing three wickets in the first 14 balls of the chase, Sri Lanka were pretty much out of it. The challenge ahead of India was to see if they could restrict their opponents to under 127 – the score that would help them pip New Zealand on NRR. As it turned out, they could go even better and keep them 100. Asha Sobhana continued her fine bowling form to take 3 for 19 while Arundhati Reddy matched her with identical figures. India polished off the win with a ball to spare.

India Women Bowling Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNCricifo
India Women Bowling Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNCricifo

Heading into the T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka had the most wins since April last year and their win-loss ratio was better than that of India and Australia. Because they had hunted down 166 to win their maiden Asia Cup title, it would have been a tad premature to write them off in the 173-run chase in Dubai. But India were on the money from the word go, and never let them even get a sniff.

An athletic effort from Radha Yadav, substitute for Harmanpreet, on the second ball of the chase set the tone. She ran back to her right from backward point and dived full length to catch a miscue from Vishmi Gunaratne. Mandhana then handed the new ball to Shreyanka Patil at the other end, ahead of Deepti Sharma.

Patil responded by pushing one slightly quicker and getting it to spin away, enticing a defensive, hard-handed poke from Athapaththu to gather the edge to slip. When Renuka Singh had Harshitha Samarawickrama, the star of the Asia Cup final, feather an outside edge in the third over, the challenge was almost quelled.

Leg spinner Asha then joined the party in the middle overs, picking up three wickets using the sharp spin available to undo the batters. Her biggest wicket was that of Anushka Sanjeewani, who was the enforcer in the 37-run fourth-wicket with Dilhari. After floating a few up to the batter, Asha pulled the length ball to deceive the Sri Lanka wicketkeeper, with Richa Ghosh stumping her.

Asha and Reddy, the Player of the Match against Pakistan, struck regularly through the middle overs. Both finished with identical figures of 3 for 19, Reddy’s efforts creditworthy after she was taken for 12 in her first over. For the third game in a row, Sri Lanka finished with a double-digit total in this competition.

Presentations and Road Ahead

Harmanpreet Kaur the winning skipper said : Haanji, sab theek hai. Uphar wale di meher hai, bas chal raha hai (all is good by God’s grace, going good) (she was referring to her injured neck). When you play good cricket you always feel well, today all the boxes were ticked, we have been talking about our fielding and we took all our catches and that’s something very important to us.

We did discuss before the game, if we are batting first what are the targets you need to set. These pitches are really tricky, we can’t go and execute.

Today lot of things went according to plan. We were thinking at least 160 and we set 170-plus. We are at that stage where we have to think about winning and even about NRR. We have to play good cricket first of all, our bowlers are doing well, they (Australia) are a good side and good to see our bowlers giving us wickets, they are in rhythm. As a captain you feel good when the team does well, it is a day to enjoy our success.

Chamari Athapaththu the losing skipper said : We struggled even in the bowling, we dropped a few catches. Batters did not do their job, especially myself. Top-order got out early and it is tough to chase this. We have to go back to the white board and work on things. The first game is really important for this kind of tournament, it is a low-scoring game and as a batting unit we had to chase that target.

The players were down after that first game and I try to lift them, it happens in cricket and we have one game left, we have to play our best cricket against New Zealand. Very happy with my bowling unit, how they bowled in the last two games, not today.

Harmanpreet Kaur Player of the match for her innings said : We just wanted to go with the momentum. Smriti and Shafali gave us a very good start. We discussed that, we didn’t want to throw our wickets away. That’s exactly what the openers did and gave us that platform. Jemi and I just wanted to get 7-8 runs an over, and we just went with the flow. It was one of those days where I was in my zone, I was thinking positively and hitting anything that was in my zone.

These wickets aren’t very true for batting. You have to keep rotating strike and only when the ball is in the zone can you swing your bat. We were there today for the team, we trusted ourselves and were rotating strike, and that’s what worked for us.

Highest margin of victory ever for India in Women’s T20 World Cups and couldn’t have come at a better time for them. They did the job with the bat as the top-three fired and then with Kaur not coming on to field, the Mandhana-led side were right on the money from ball one of the chase. Shreyanka was thrown the ball for the second over and the dangerous Chamari was sent packing. Earlier in the opening over, Radha Yadav the sub set the tone with a stunning catch to get Vishmi. Sri Lanka slipped to 6/3 and never recovered from there.

It was about minimizing the NRR from there for Sri Lanka but they could just muster 90 before being bowled out. Kavisha and Anushka showed a bit of spark during their stand but India never looked threatened tonight. Again Arundhati Reddy was amongst the wickets, with a three-fer and the leggie Asha Sobhana chipped in with a three-fer too. All five bowlers used finished with wickets to their names. After a heavy loss and a scratchy win, India turned up tonight and they have knocked out Sri Lanka too with this win.

On a slightly cooler evening in Dubai, with semi-final qualification hopes in the balance, India brought their A-game to the fore to thrash Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup 2024. They put on their best batting show – perhaps the best among all teams in the tournament so far – and then were clinical with the ball and on the field to send the Asia Cup champions packing from the tournament.

Batting first, India rode on half-centuries from Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur to post 172 for 3, the highest total in this T20 World Cup. They then skittled Sri Lanka out for 90 to register an 82-run win, India’s biggest in T20 World Cups, with Arundhati Reddy and Asha Sobhana picking up three wickets apiece.

As a result of their massive win, their net run rate (NRR) jumped to 0.576, better than Pakistan’s and only behind Australia’s. This is notable as their NRR had taken a beating following the 58-run defeat to New Zealand in their opening match.

India flexed their batting muscles and avenged their Asia Cup loss against Sri Lanka to the tune of 82 runs at the Dubai International Stadium. The victory margin – India’s highest (by runs) in Women’s T20 World Cups – was large enough to take their Net Run Rate above that of New Zealand, against whom they could end up competing for a spot in the semifinals during the final round of the Group A fixtures. This also meant that Sri Lanka stood eliminated after their third straight loss.

India with that big win are now second on the table. They have just one game left in the group stage, against Australia in Sharjah. Pressure on New Zealand and Pakistan after India’s win tonight. Defeat means that Sri Lanka are no longer able to reach the semi-finals, having lost all three of their Group A matches.

Also Read: IND vs ENG: “Side Arm Specialists In India Need To Work Hard To Prepare Batters For Tough Times”- Abhishek Jain Gives His Invaluable Insights

 


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