In a historic moment, Chamari Athapaththu’s Sri Lanka are hosting India and South Africa for a Women’s Tri-nation series for the first time ever on their home soil.
The hosts, Sri Lanka, were up against India, led by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, in the Tri-nation series opener at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The first ODI of the series was eventually reduced to a 39-overs per side contest, courtesy of persistent rains, causing a delayed start to the game.
There were two debutants from India, namely Kashvee Gautam and Nallapureddy Shree Charani and a couple of them from Sri Lanka, namely Piumi Badalage and Malki Madara, receiving their ODI debut caps.
Sneh Rana leads the spin attack on her return to the ODI set-up
The Sri Lankan openers, Hasini Perera and skipper Chamari Athapaththu, got their side off to a cautious start with a 23-run opening partnership after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to field first in the Tri-Series opener. The Indian new-ball bowlers Arundhati Reddy and debutant Kashvee Gautam were impressive in their opening spell. Arundhati Reddy got the big scalp of the opposition skipper Chamari Athapaththu in the 8th over of the innings to provide the first breakthrough for India.
The home side, Sri Lanka, kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were eventually bundled out for 147, with five balls to spare. The 24-run partnership for the 5th wicket between Nilakshika Silva and Kavisha Dilhari, and the 32-run partnership for the 8th wicket between Achini Kulasuriya and wicket-keeper batter Anushka Sanjeewani were the notable partnerships of the innings for Sri Lanka.
Hasini Perera (30 off 46 balls), Kavisha Dilhari (25 off 26 balls), wicket-keeper batter Anushka Sanjeewani (22 off 39 balls), and Achini Kulasuriya (17 off 34 balls) were the top performers with the bat for the home side.
Sneh Rana, on her return to the Indian ODI set-up, led the spin attack and was the stand-out performer with the ball (8-0-31-3). Another debutant, Nallapureddy Shree Charani (8-0-26-2) was impressive, alongside Deepti Sharma (5.1-0-22-2), and Arundhati Reddy (8-0-26-1) played their part with the ball for India.
The Indian top order makes light work of the run chase to seal a dominant win
Chasing a target of 148, Indian openers Pratika Rawal and Smriti Mandhana got their side off to a solid start with a 54-run opening partnership. Inoka Ranaweera broke the stand, by sending Smriti Mandhana (43 off 46 balls) back to the pavilion in the 10th over of the run chase to provide the first breakthrough for Sri Lanka. She fell seven runs short of her well-deserved half-century.
Harleen Deol (48* off 71 balls) joined opening batter Pratika Rawal (50* off 62 balls) at the crease, and the duo took their side over the line with a massive unbeaten 95-run partnership for the 2nd wicket to seal the game by 9 wickets and 56 balls to spare. Pratika Rawal scored her 4th ODI half-century, staying unbeaten to guide her side over the line. As a result, she was also awarded the Player of the Match, as India kick-started their campaign on a high in the Tri-Nation series.
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