A fine bowling performance by India Women, led by left-arm spinner Gouher Sultana's four-wicket haul, helped the team post a seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka Women in the first ODI of the three-match series in Visakapatnam.
Jemimah Rodrigues and Poonam Yadav produced special performances to fire India to a 13-run win over Sri Lanka in the first T20 International of the five-match series, in Katunayake, Sri Lanka, on Wednesday.
Medium-pacer Deepti Sharma grabbed six wickets before Veda Krishnamurthy scored a half-century as India women completed 3-0 clean sweep after posting a comfortable seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI on Friday at Ranchi. Deepti followed up her four-for in the previous game with figures of six for 20 to bundle out Sri Lanka for a paltry 112 in 38.2 overs. India then crossed the target in just 29.3 overs with Veda Krishnamurthy top-scoring with an unbeaten 61. Sri Lanka got off to a good start after electing to bat, with openers Yasoda Mendis (14) and Prasadani Weerakkody (19) adding 33 before Deepti took two wickets in two consecutive deliveries to trigger a dramatic collapse. Although captain Shashikala Siriwardene (14) and Dilani Manodara (23) later combined for a 32-run sixth-wicket stand, wickets kept falling and Sri Lanka were ultimately bowled out for 112 from 94 for five at one stage. Debutant Preeti Bose also put up an impressive show, returning figures of 8-4-8-2.
Anuja Patil produced a cameo with the bat to lift the team to 130 and then took three wickets to guide India Women to a 34-run win over Sri Lanka Women in the first Twenty20 International on Monday. With this victory, India Women have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20 series. Opting to bat, India Women posted 130 for six and then managed to restrict Sri Lanka to 96 for seven in 20 overs. Indian eves did not have an ideal start as they lost skipper Mithali Raj (3) and V R Vanitha (12) early to be reeling at 15 for 2 in four overs. But responsible batting by Smriti Mandhana (35) and Harmanpreet Kaur (36) put India back on track. Anuja provided the final flourish after coming in to bat at No.6. She hit three fours during her 22 that came off 17 balls. Left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka. She accounted for the top three and ended with figures of three for 28. Chasing a modest target, Sri Lanka lost opener Yasoda Mendis for eight with Anuja striking in the very first over. In her second over, Anuja returned to dismiss the other opener Chamari Atapattu for a duck to reduce the visitors to 13 for two.
Sri Lankan women's cricket team held their nerves to register a 14-run win over Ireland in the ICC World Twenty20 group match played, in Mohali, on Sunday.