Dubai: In the run-up to their clash against Sri Lanka in the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup, the equation was pretty simple for India to keep their semifinal hopes alive: get a win by 45 runs or above to push their net run rate into positive and take the second place in Group A. At the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday evening, India exactly did what was asked of them in an empathic fashion – the batters shone to post a mammoth 172/3, all five bowlers took wickets and kept their economy rates below five, while the fielders took great catches to thrash Sri Lanka by 82 runs and jump to the second spot in Group A with a net run rate of 0.560.
Electing to bat first on a slow Dubai pitch, India had a splendid 98-run opening stand – Smriti Mandhana hit a 38-ball fifty while Shafali Verma made 46. After Sri Lanka fought back by dismissing the duo on successive deliveries, captain Harmanpreet Kaur applied perfect finishing touches by smoking pacers and spinners to hit a 27-ball fifty. The Indian batters’ used their crease well, ran well between the wickets and found their groove to punish Sri Lanka, who dropped simple catches of Harmanpreet and Jemimah Rodrigues.
In reply, Asha Sobhana and Arundhati Reddy took 3-19 each as Sri Lanka lost their top three in power-play, and were bowled out for 90 in 19.5 overs. The 82-run win in a near-flawless performance against Sri Lanka also meant India got their highest-ever victory margin in Women’s T20 World Cups.
Shafali got India .