Kaur and Mandhana’s fifties help India rout Lanka, boost semi-final hopes at Women’s T20 World Cup

Mohammad Abdullah, Senior Sports Reporter

Riding on Harmanpreet Kaur’s blitzkrieg fifty and a 98-run opening stand between Shefali Verma and Smirti Mandhana, India mauled a hapless Sri Lanka by a colossal margin of 83 runs in their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup match in Dubai on Wednesday.

After posting a mammoth total of 172/3, India bundled out Lanka for a paltry 90 runs to register a convincing win and improve their run rate. With the victory, India climbed to the second spot in their group with two wins from their three matches.

Chasing Lanka got off to the worst possible start as they lost the first wicket for a nought. Renuka Singh struck twice in quick succession and Patil also picked one as Lanka were three down with just six runs on the board.

Lanka were in deep trouble and needed someone to play a big innings to save them the blushes. Kavisha Dilhari and Anushka Sanjeewani showed some resistance and shared a 37 runs partnership for the fourth wicket to take the score to 43/3.

Sobhana broke the partnership with the wicket of Sanjeewani, which opened the floodgates for Indian bowlers. Indian bowlers ripped through the Lanka’s middle-order.

After that they could never recover and kept on losing the wicket at regular intervals. This was an abject surrender from the Lanka batters as they failed to cope up with the charged-up India bowling attack.

India's Smriti Mandhana in action. AP

Lanka were reduced to 65/8 from 42/3, losing five wickets within a span of 23 runs, which all but ended their hopes of a come-from-behind win.

Earlier, India were off to a blazing start as both the openers Shefali Verma and Smirti Mandhana added 98 runs for the first wicket. They seemed to have come out with a game plan. Both the openers played sensibly and hit the Lanka’s bowlers all over the ground.

They gave a solid start to set the tone for a big total. Shefali was in a devastating mood. She seemed to have picked up whence she left in the last match. Shefali had scored a watchful 38 in their second match against Pakistan to steer India to a victory.

Both the openers tore apart a fragile Sri Lanka bowling attack. Shefali hit the first boundary of the match as early as in the third over. The plan was evident, not only India wanted to win the match but they also wanted to improve their run rate by posting a huge total and beat Lanka by the maximum margin possible.

When on 18, Shefali also completed her 2000 runs in T20Is. Mandhana also changed the gears as she used her feet to loft Ranaweera in the air, hitting the first six of the tournament. India raced to fifty in just seven overs without losing any wicket.

Mandhana brought up her fifty in style with a four off Athapaththu. Soon after reaching the fifty, Mandhana was found short of her crease while trying to scramble for suicidal single. Her innings was studded with four hits to the fence and one over it.

Lanka eventually broke the dangerous partnership of 98 runs but the damage had been done. Soon after the dismissal of Mandhana, Shefali also fell victim to Athapaththu as he holed out to Gunaratne.

Shefali could not complete her fifty as she fell short by seven runs. With both the set batters back in the pavilion in two successive balls, Lanka heaved a sigh of relief as they were oblivious of the fact what was in store for them.

Another storm was about to come in the form of Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur. Harmanpreet knew it was a golden chance to build on the platform given by the openers. She wasted no time and straight away got down to the business.

Kaur got off the mark with a single. She flexed her muscles in the next over as she took 13 runs off Kumari with the help of a six and a four. Kaur and Rodrigues added a quick-fire 30 runs for the third wicket in just 3.3 overs. She hit two fours in her 10-ball 16.

After the dismissal of Rodrigues, Harmanpreet took the charge in her hand and started cutting loose. She was at her brutal best and spared no Lankan bowlers.

She raced to her fifty in just 27 deliveries with the help of eight fours and one six as India posted the highest total of the tournament 172/3.

After a huge loss against New Zealand in the first match, India’s run rate had become very low. Despite their victory over Pakistan, they were second from the bottom.

They could not take the same risk against Pakistan as it was a high-pressure match. Pakistan came into that match on the back of a victory.

Any mistake could have cost India dear and their campaign would have been in peril. So they decided to bring their faltering campaign back on track first with a much-needed win against Pakistan then improve their run rate against Lanka.

Lanka came into the match after two consecutive losses and their morale was already down. It was a perfect game plan for India. They are in the group of death where four big teams Australia, Pakistan and New Zealand and India are fighting for two semi-final spots.

It is very much probable that the run rate will play a crucial role in deciding the two semi-finalists if two or more teams finish on the same points.

To avoid the jitters of fretting over the run rate in the later stages, Indians needed to take this risk.