Deepti, Mithali fire India past Lanka
Derby, July 5: India defeated Sri Lanka by 16 runs in an ICC Women’s World Cup match here on Wednesday for their fourth straight victory in the tournament.
Batting first, India made 232/8 in the stipulated 50 overs, and then restricted Sri Lanka to 216/7.
Dilani Manodara led the way for the islanders with a fighting 61 but did not receive much support other than a 37 from Shashikala Siriwardene, while for India, Jhulan Goswami and Poonam Yadav took two wickets apiece.
Earlier, Deepti Sharma and skipper Mithali Raj hit half-centuries to help India post a decent 232/8.
Deepti made 78 off 110 balls while Mithali (53, 78b) continued her good form with yet another 50 plus score to set the base for India’s total after the early dismissal of openers Punam Raut (16) and Smriti Mandhana (8).
Middle-order batters Veda Krishnamurthy (29) and Harmanpreet Kaur (20) stitched a crucial 50 runs in just nine overs to help India get past the 230-run mark.
India didn’t have the best of starts as Mandhana departed early. She was soon followed by Raut in the 11th over that brought India 232/8 in 50 overs (Deepti Sharma 78, Mithali Raj 53, Sripali Weerakkody 3/28, Inoka Ranaweera 2/55) bt Sri Lanka 216/7 in 50 overs (Dilani Manodara 61, Shashikala Siriwardene 37, Poonam Yadav 2/23, Jhulan Goswami 2/26).
Mithali and Deepti at the crease.
They shared a vital 118 runs for the third wicket to not only steady India’s innings but create the perfect launchpad for others to follow but three quick wickets dragged them back.
After the dismissal of Deepti in the 37th over, Jhulan Goswami (9), who was promoted up the order, and Mithali to fell in sucessive balls of Inoka Ranaweera’s 39th over to put brakes on scoring.
But Veda and Harmanpreet took the onus upon themselves to keep up the ante before both got out in the 49th over off Sripali Weerakkody. India managed a decent 62 runs off the last 10 overs.
For Sri Lanka, medium pacer Weerakkody was the pick of the bowlers picking up 3/28.