Women’s T20 World Cup: Batters finally come good as India revive campaign with Sri Lanka thumping

Seasoned performers Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur were back to their sizzling best as India gave a massive boost to their net run rate with an 82-run hammering of Sri Lanka in the Women’s T20 World Cup here on Wednesday.

The 98-run stand between Shafali Verma (43 off 40) and Smriti (50 off 38) set the tone for the innings after India opted to bat. Harmanpreet (52 not out off 27) then got welcome runs in the death overs to push India past 170, the highest total of the competition thus far.

Sri Lanka, who had got the better of India in the Asia Cup, could never really get going in the run chase and were all out for 90 in 19.5 overs. There were three wickets apiece for Asha Sobhana (3/19) and Arundhati Reddy (3/19), while Renuka Singh took two wickets, including one with the very first ball of the innings.

It was one of those days where I was in my zone, I was thinking positively and hitting anything that was in my zone.

Harmanpreet Kaur, player of the match

The loss to New Zealand had put a severe dent to India’s net run rate and they needed a big win to make amends, something they managed on Wednesday. It was also India’s biggest margin of victory in the tournament history, pushing their run rate to positive from negative. India’s last group game is against the mighty Australia.

“It was one of those days where I was in my zone, I was thinking positively and hitting anything that was in my zone,” Harmanpreet said after smashing her fastest fifty in T20Is.

Harmanpreet completed her half-century off 27 balls. Her previous fastest fifty — off 29 balls — also came against Sri Lanka back in 2018. “These wickets aren’t very true for batting. You have to keep rotating strike and only when the ball is in the zone can you swing your bat,” she said.

“Smriti and Shafali gave us a very good start. We discussed that, we didn’t want to throw our wickets away. That’s exactly what the openers did and gave us that platform,” she added.

Brief scores: India: 172/3 in 20 overs (Harmanpreet 52*, Mandhana 50, Verma 43); Sri Lanka: 90 all out in 19.5 overs (Asha 3/19, Arundhati 3/19, Renuka 2/16).

All-round South Africa hammer Scotland

Dubai: South Africa dominated Scotland in all departments to register an 80-run win in a Women’s T20 World Cup match. South Africa posted 166/5. In reply, the Scots were all out for 86 in 17.5 overs. Nonkululeko Mlaba (3/12) was the most successful bowler for South Africa while there were two wickets apiece for Chloe Tryon (2/22) and Nadine de Klerk (2/15). Skipper Laura Wolvaardt and her opening partner Tazmin Brits gave South Africa a perfect start. Wolvaardt smashed a 27-ball 40, while Brits hit 43 off 35. Marizanne Kapp then made 43 in just 24 balls.

Brief scores: South Africa: 166/5 in 20 overs (Brits 43, Kapp 43, Wolvaardt 40); Scotland: 86 all out in 17.5 overs (Mlaba 3/12, de Klerk 2/15, Tryon 2/22). PTI