Mithali, Deepti fifties lift India
Deepti Sharma (78) and skipper Mithali Raj (53) helped India post 232/8 against Sri Lanka in a group stage match of the ICC Women’s World Cup at the County Cricket ground here on Wednesday.
After a poor start by the top order batswomen, Deepti and Mithali forged a 118-run thirdwicket partnership in 26 overs to stabilise the Indian innings.
But just when things seemed good at the middle, Deepti was sent packing in the 37th over by pacer Ama Kanchana. Deepti slammed 10 boundaries in her 110-ball knock.
New batswoman Jhulan Goswami (9) was dismissed in the 40th over and in the same over Miltali was adjudged leg before wicket off Slow left-arm orthodox Inoka Ranaweera.
Going into the match, the India skipper needed 87 runs to become the highest run-getter in women’s ODIs.
That would have given India more reasons to celebrate as India’s Jhulan Goswami is currently the highest wicket-taker in women’s ODIs.
This is the first time India are eyeing to occupy the top spot in both batting and bowling in ODIs.
Middle-order batswomen Harmanpreet Kaur (20) and Veda Krishnamurthy (29) added 50 runs for the sixth wicket before both players were dismissed by pacer S. Weerakkody in the same over.
Lower-order batswomen Sushma Verma (11) and Mansi Joshi (2) struggled in the slog overs, and as a result Sri Lanka managed to keep India below the 250-run mark.
For Sri Lanka, Weerakkody scalped three wickets while Ranaweera took two wickets.