A tight Sneh Rana spell put in motion a collapse Sri Lanka did not recover from, losing their last nine wickets for 93 runs.

This match had been shortened to 39-overs-a-side due to morning rains, but even so, a target of 148 was never really going to test a strong India batting order. Their top three hunted efficiently,  Pratika Rawal holding the chase together with 50 not out off 62 balls after Smriti Mandhana had provided a brisk start. India cruised home with nine wickets and 9.2 overs to spare.

Sri Lanka had at one point been 54 for 1, before Rana’s spell and some poor running sent the innings into a nosedive. Hasini Perera, opening the batting in place of Vishmi Gunaratne – who was not playing this game – top-scored with 30 runs. But with wickets falling frequently to the India spinners – who took seven in total – Sri Lanka never appeared to be headed to a competitive score.

Rana took 3 for 32 from her eight overs, with Deepti Sharma taking two wickets as well. Left-arm spinner N Sree Charani also struck twice in her first international match. There were four debutants in this match – two from each side – and Charani fared the best of them, the other three failing to take wickets.

It was the lbw of Hasini that kickstarted the collapse. Rana slid one into her pads, the ball likely going on to hit middle. Soon after that, a running mix-up cost Harshitha Samarawickrama her wicket, and Sri Lanka’s extremely shaky middle order was exposed.

Rana kept striking, taking two excellent return catches. The simpler of these was against Hansima Karunaratne who had come down the track only to hit the ball back to Rana who took a sharp chance at thigh height. Four overs later, she also took a low, dying chance to dismiss Nilakshika de Silva. Charani’s wickets both came from catches in the infield. Her maiden wicket, that of Kavisha Dilhari, came from a top-edged sweep.

India were dominant from the outset, with the bat. Mandhana was timing the ball particularly well, especially against Sri Lanka’s seamers. She favoured the legside in this innings, judging length quickly on a slow Khettarama deck, to pounce on the short ones. So dominant was she early on that although the score was 54 when she gave Inoka Ranaweera a return catch, she had scored 43 herself, off 46 balls.

Rawal was slower through the opening partnership, but confident nonetheless, as several of her drives suggested. Her fourth ODI half-century featured six fours, the prettiest of which was a cover drive off Dilhari in the ninth over.

Harleen Deol added another excellent score to her body of work at No. 3, where she has been batting of late. She was not out on 48 off 71 when India cruised home.

Brief scores:
India Women 149 for 1 in 29.4 overs (Pratika Rawal 50*, Harleen Deol 48*, Smriti Mandhana 43) beat Sri Lanka Women  147 in 38.1 overs (Hasini Perera 30, Kavisha Dilhari 25, Anushka Sanjeewani 22; Sneh Rana 3-31, Deepti Sharma 2-22, Shree Charani 2-26) by nine wickets

[Cricinfo]