Guwahati (Assam) [India], October 1 (ANI): Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma overtook former spinner Neetu David to become the country’s second-highest wicket-taker in women’s ODI cricket and helped Women in Blue start their ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup campaign with a 59-run win over Sri Lanka at Guwahati on Tuesday.
During the match, India was put to bowl first and put 269/8 on the board. In the run chase of 271 runs in this 47-overs-a-side match, which saw action being interrupted by rain, Sri Lanka did look good in patches, however, Deepti’s three-wicket haul (3/54) and assists from spinners Sneh Rana (2/32) and Shree Charani (2/37) kept SL restricted to 211 in 45.4 overs.
Now in 113 matches, Deepti has 143 wickets at an average of 28.19, with best figures of 6/20, two four-wicket hauls and three five-wicket hauls. Pacer Jhulan Goswami (255 wickets in 204 matches at an average of 22.04) remains India’s best ODI bowler and overall as well across all teams.
Skipper Chamari Athapaththu (43 in 47 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes), put up a nice 52-run stand for the second wicket with Harshitha Samarawickrama (29 in 45 balls, with three fours) after Hasini Perera (14) at the score of 30 was dismissed by Kranti Goud.
Nilakshi de Silva (35 in 29 balls, with four boundaries) and a six was another batter which crossed the 20-run mark, but the excellence of Indian spin was way too much that Sri Lankans could not settle themselves with a huge partnership after the second-wicket stand between Chamari and Harshitha. Chamari has now top-scored for Sri Lanka 38 times out of the 116 ODIs she’s played in (roughly once in every three games), highlighting her team’s dependence on her.
Deepti also replicated her performance against Ireland back in 2017, taking three wickets and scoring a half-century in the same match for women’s team. Jemimah Rodrigues (86 & 4/3 against Bangladesh) in 2023 and Shikha Pandey (59 and 3/20 against South Africa) back in 2014 are the other figures in this elite company.
Earlier, Indian all-rounder Amanjot Kaur became only the second player to register a fifty-plus score for India in a women’s ODI while batting at number eight position or below and stitched a valuable 103-run stand for the seventh wicket with an experienced Deepti Sharma to power India to 269/8.
SL opted to bowl first after winning the toss and with rains interrupting the action, the match become a 47-over a side clash. Resuming the action, having lost Smriti Mandhana (8) at the score of 14, India had a 67-run stand between opener Pratika Rawal (37 in 59 balls, with three fours and a six) and Harleen Deol (48 in 64 balls, with six fours) to stabilise the innings.
However, Inoka Ranaweera’s slow left-arm spin unsettled India, as she captured the scalps of Pratika, Harleen, Jemimah Rodrigues (0) and captain Harmanpreet Kaur (21 in 19 balls, with two fours) to reduce India to 124/6 in 27 overs.
An experienced Deepti decided to take the matter into her hands and not let the home crowd down, stitching a 103-run stand for the seventh-wicket with 25-year-old Amanjot to take India way beyond the 200-run mark. Deepti scored a patient run-a-ball 53, with three fours, while Amanjot, batting at eighth spot, played her six fours and a six with her youthful freedom.
Sneh Rana’s quick cameo of 28* in 15 balls, with two fours and two sixes, took India to a competitive total.
This was only the second instance of a century partnership at the seventh wicket or lower in women’s ODI for India, with the first being a 122-run stand between Sneh and Pooja Vastrakar against Pakistan in 2022 at Mount Maunganui.
Amanjot is just the second batter to register a 50-plus score from No.8 or lower in World Cups, after Pooja Vastrakar’s 67 vs PAK-W in 2022.
Coming to the fifty run scores scored by Indian batters batting at number eight or below in women’s ODIs, Pooja Vastrakar has done it four times.
Aged 39y 224d, Ranaweera is the second-oldest to bag a 4-wicket haul in Women’s ODIs, after West Indies’ Pamela Lavine, who registered 4/17 aged 41y, 39d for WI-W vs SL-W at Basseterre in 2010.
Brief Scores: India: 269/8 (Amanjot Kaur 57, Deepti Sharma 53, Inoka Ranaweera 4/46) beat Sri Lanka: 211 (Chamari Athapaththu 43, Nilakshi de Silva 35, Deepti Sharma 3/54). (ANI)
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