After two underwhelming and sluggish performances with the bat against New Zealand and Pakistan and some poor fielding to boot, India found itself pushed to a corner with fingers pointing at the side’s intent and preparation.
With the highest team total of the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup and a dominant 82-run win against Sri Lanka, India shushed the naysayers in some style at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium here on Wednesday.
Harmanpreet Kaur opted to bat and Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma did not disappoint. After collectively scoring only 14 vs New Zealand and 39 runs against Pakistan, the duo frustrated the Lankan bowling arsenal with a 98-run opening stand off just 77 balls. The large outfield was negated with brisk running between the wickets and smart placement. Sri Lanka came out with the ball rather defensively, looking to play it a bit too safe against a dangerous Indian batting order.
The venom of the Asia Cup bowling performance was nowhere to be seen in Dubai with the attack looking terribly underprepared against India’s batting big guns. The buck stopped at Chamari Athapaththu as she removed the pair in the span of two balls in the 13th over.
Harmanpreet slotted back at number three and stitched two important partnerships with Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh to carry the side to 172/3 in 20 overs.
Also read | India records its biggest win by margin in Women’s T20 World Cup history
The India captain didn’t take to the field after, sending Radha Yadav as the substitute. It proved to be decisive with Radha taking a screamer running to her side from backward point to dismiss Vishmi Gunaratne off the first ball of the chase. Sri Lanka lost Athapaththu and Harshita Samarawickrama – its only other consistent batters in the format – by the third over, which all but sealed the game in India’s favour and opened the exit door for the Lankans from the tournament with a game remaining. Sri Lanka dragged the chase to the 20th over, but India would not be denied an all out.
The side also managed its first cohesive performance of the tournament. The PowerPlay was maximised which gave the middle order clay to sculpt a good total from. Harmanpreet struck at a rate of 192.59 in her unbeaten knock of 57. The clean fielding effort was the cherry on top, enough to get coaches Amol Muzumdar and Munish Bali high-fiving in the dugout.
The big win - India’s largest in the Women’s T20 showpiece – also saw India’s Net Run Rate (up from -1.217 to +0.576) get its head above water.
A 10/10 performance is rare for this Indian side, but Harmanpreet and Co. will hope this is a sign of things to come with Australia waiting with sharpened claws in Sharjah.
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