(Cricket news) India defeated Sri Lanka by 4 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the W-ODI series. It was a team performance by the Indian side as they proved to be too good for the hosts. It was Harmanpreet Kaur's first match as full time ODI captain and she herself contributed heavily to the team's win. India gave Harleen Deol a place in the side ahead of S Meghna whereas the rest of the was pretty standard as expected. It was Yastika Bhatia who kept wickets while Richa Ghosh was in the outfield which looks like a long term thing. Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu won the toss and elected to bat first.
Sri Lanka could only manage 171 runs before being bowled out in the 49th over. Opener Hasini Perera gave the home side a good start as she scored 37 off 54 balls hitting 5 fours. Nilakshi de Silva was the highest run scorer with 43 off 63 balls. The Lankans kept at regular intervals and couldn't build a partnership. Deepti Sharma and Renuka Thakur picked up 3 wickets each while Pooja Vastrakar got 2 scalps. Harmanpreet Kaur and Rajeshwari Gayakwad chipped in with a wicket each. Kaur had the luxury of using 8 bowlers and she rotated them very well. The amount of bowling options they have is a very good sign for the future of this team in all formats.
Chasing 172 runs, India weren't as comfortable as they would've liked. After losing Smriti Mandhana and Yastika Bhatia early, Shafali Verma and Harmanpreet Kaur steadied the ship. Verma scored 35 off 40 balls while the skipper got 44 off 63 which put India in a good position. After the dismissal of Shafali Verma, Harleen Deol came in and scored 34 off 40 balls to take her side closer to the target. Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar added the finishing touch as India chased down the total in just 38 overs with 4 wickets in hand. Left arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera was the pick of the bowlers as she picked up 4/39 in her 10 overs. Oshadi Ranasinghe chipped in with 2 wickets but the rest of the Sri Lankan bowlers were ineffective and couldn't build required pressure. India now has a chance to seal the series in the next W-ODI
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