Mithali credits spinners for India’s win

Mithali Raj and Deepti Sharma’s 118-run thirdwicket partnership led the way as India continued their unbeaten run at the ICC Women’s World Cup with a 16-run victory over Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

Captain Mithali plundered four boundaries to record her 48th One-Day International (ODI) half-century at the County Ground in Derby as youngster Deepti excelled at the crease for her sixth.

Two back-to-back wickets saw Sri Lanka stun their opposition’s growing total as India set a target of 233, but early wickets for Jhulan Goswami and Poonam Yadav set the tone for their chase.

A well-deserved 50 for Dilani Manodara highlighted Sri Lanka’s fightback, but India held out for their fourth win from four.

“In the middle overs we really pulled ourselves and the dot balls pushed them to score in the end. Overall, our spinners did quite well,” said Mithali.

“Cricket has evolved over the years because now we need to have more all-rounders, with bowlers who can bat in the slog overs and batsmen who can pick some wickets. I’ve always enjoyed batting and stepping up when it’s required.”

Sri Lanka have now lost all four of their games.

“We have had good matches against India, so I’m disappointed about our performance today, but we hope to do our best in the next game. We made a lot of mistakes,” captain Inoka Ranaweera said.