Smriti, Amanjot, Sneh help India clinch ODI tri-series beating SL by 97 runs
Vice-captain Smriti Mandhana hit a sublime 116 off 101 balls while Sneh Rana and Amanjot Kaur shined with stellar bowling efforts as a dominant India clinched the women's ODI tri-series with an emphatic 97-run win over Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
On a pitch which was initially slow and got better to bat on as the innings progressed, Smriti was at the forefront of a brilliant batting day for India by slamming her 11th ODI hundred and oozing absolute elegance in her stroke-play. Her efforts led the way for India posting 342/7 in their 50 overs, the highest total made in a women's ODI game in Sri Lanka.
In reply, Sneh stepped up to once again be India's standout bowler, as she picked up 4-38. On the other hand, Amanjot yet again impressed with figures of 3-54 as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 245 in 48.2 overs. A chase of 343 was always going to be an uphill task for Sri Lanka, and they were never really in it, despite their Chamari Athapaththu making 51.
Now, on losing the tri-series final on home soil, Sri Lanka will be wondering what could have been had they bowled with more penetration or could have made the most of their fielding chances, especially of dropping Smriti on 21 off Inoka Ranaweera's bowling.
After that reprieve, Smriti never put a foot wrong in her wonderful knock, as she reached her century off 92 balls via four consecutive boundaries off skipper Chamari in the 31st over – third of which took her to the three-figure mark.
Smriti, who incidentally hit her first ODI hundred against Sri Lanka, was also helped by the fact that each of the other top six India batters made or went beyond 30. She shared a 70-run opening stand with Pratika Rawal (30), before joining forces with Harleen Deol (47) for a 120-run partnership for the second wicket.
After that, captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues made 41 and 44 respectively, before cameos from Deepti Sharma (20 not out) and Amanjot Kaur (18) ensured India went past 340-mark. For Sri Lanka, it was a day to forget with the ball and in ground fielding, as they were unable to keep the Indian scoring rate down in the middle overs.
Though Sugandika Kumari, Malki Madara and Dewmi Vihanga bagged two wickets each, the Sri Lankan bowling attack lacked any serious penetration and control. Moreover, there wasn't any visible effort to put pressure back on India, especially with missed catches and run-outs playing their part too, as India managed to make 90 runs in the last ten overs.
India had a perfect start to their defence of a mammoth total when Amanjot castled Hasini Perera on third ball of the second innings. Though Chamari shared a 68-run stand with Vishmi Gunaratne (36) for the second wicket, Amanjot broke it in the 14th over by bowling the latter around her legs.
With Chamari struggling for rhythm in the later part, she still managed to bring up her fifty, before being castled by Sneh. Despite Harshitha Samawickrama and Nilakshi de Silva sharing a 52-run stand, Amanjot and Sneh took them out respectively to ensure the game was firmly in India's favour, as the visitors' eventually completed a resounding win in the final and justify the pre-tournament favourites tag.
Brief Scores: India 342/7 in 50 overs (Smriti Mandhana 116, Harleen Deol 47; Sugandika Kumari 2-59, Dewmi Vihanga 2-69) beat Sri Lanka 245 in 48.2 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 51, Nilakshi de Silva 48; Sneh Rana 4-38, Amanjot Kaur 3-54) by 97 runs
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