VIZAG: The first women’s T20I between India and Sri Lanka at the ACA-VDCA Cricket stadium on Sunday highlighted the gulf between the two teams. India stamped their authority with a dominating eight-wicket victory to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. But there is no time to ponder for the visitors as they play the second T20I at the same venue on Tuesday.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Despite a flat track and dew making it difficult for the bowlers, the Sri Lankan batters failed to capitalise on the conditions.Their total of 121/6 was chased down comfortably by India, thanks to an unbeaten 69 from Jemimah Rodrigues.
The islanders rely heavily on captain Chamari Athapaththu, and when she is dismissed early in the innings, like she was on Sunday, the Lankan batters struggled. Vishmi Gunaratna (39), Hasini Perera (20) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (21) failed to power on. Their less-than-run-a-ball strike rate meant they ended up with a below-par total.Athapaththu admitted that their batters were not proactive. “We need to bat positively. The total on the board was not good enough to defend and we have to improve and find a way to score big runs,” said the southpaw after the defeat.
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The hosts too have concerns of their own despite the positive result. While the bowling unit did a fine job, they were sloppy on the field, dropping several catches. Harmanpreet Kaur was visibly unhappy with their efforts. “We have been working hard on our fielding but not sure why we keep dropping catches. We will come up with a better approach in the next match,” she said.Left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma, who made her debut on Sunday, showed a lot of control but was unlucky to end up wicketless during her impressive outing (4-0-16-0).After missing out on a flat track, Shafali Varma will be eager to make amends while Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah, Harmanpreet, Richa Ghosh and Amanjot Kaur will look to pile it on as the hosts once again take the field as favourites.
INDW vs SLW: India Women Eye Fielding Turnaround Ahead of Crucial 2nd T20I: Tweet This