Connect with us

Latest News

Mandhana, Amanjot, Rana power India to tri-series title

Published

12 months ago

on

Smriti Mandhana brought up her century off 92 balls

India posted the highest women’s ODI score in Sri Lanka, and their fourth-highest total in the format, which set them up for a statement win in the tri-series final in Colombo. After piling on the runs, they dismissed Sri Lanka for 245 to underline their dominance over a side they have only lost to three times in 34 completed ODIs.

Smriti Mandhana scored her 11th ODI century, and first against Sri Lanka, and was the senior partner in the two stands that formed the spine of the Indian batting effort. She put on 70 for the first wicket with Pratika Rawal and 120 for the second with Harleen Deol as India raced to 190 inside 33 overs. Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues all contributed scores in the 40s and India scored 90 runs off the last ten overs to top 340.

That meant Sri Lanka had to complete the highest successful chase in women’s ODIs – a record they already hold – and had to score at a shave under seven runs an over from the get-go. Although the surface and outfield were suited to run-scoring, the task was too tough. They had three half-century stands and one individual fifty from Chamari Athapaththu but could not keep up with the required run rate. Seamer Amanjot Kaur picked up three wickets and offspinner Sneh Rana bagged 4 for 38 to finish as the series’ leading wicket-taker.

But India did not have it all their way early on. Rawal could have been out third ball when she flicked Malki Madara into the leg side, where Harshitha Samarawickrama got hands to the ball but could not hold on. Mandhana was aggressive in the powerplay but she could have been out immediately afterwards when Inoka Ranaweera was brought on. Mandhana, on 21, hit her straight to mid-off where Piumi Wathsala palmed the chance over her head. In her next over, Ranaweera drew both Mandhana and Rawal’s edge but in the first instance, the ball flew through point for four and in the second, it fell short of backward point. Sri Lanka eventually broke through when Rawal handed a catch to Wathsala at mid-on and she made no mistake.

The fall of the wicket prompted Athapaththu to bring herself on and it did not take long before Mandhana got stuck in. She sent the first ball of Athapaththu’s second over back over her head for six. In the next over, Mandhana brought up fifty with a sweep for four through backward square leg in what became a favourite scoring area for her. She scored 34 runs in that section of the ground, exactly the same as the number of runs she scored through the covers and an indication of how well she used her feet to open up areas on the off and on side.

Mandhana dominated the second-wicket partnership, and scored 80 runs to Deol’s 37 and was particularly severe on Vihanga and Athapaththu. She scored 33 runs from the 23 balls she faced from Athapaththu, including 17 runs from Athapaththu’s seventh over. Her runs came with four successive sweeps for four and the third brought up Mandhana’s century, off 92 balls.

Just when Sri Lanka may have wondered where they would get a wicket from, Mandhana sliced Vihanga to backward point where Samarawickrama took a simple catch. Four overs later, Vihanga also removed Deol, whom she caught off her own bowling, to collect her 11th wicket of the series and put her level with Rana at the top of the bowling charts albeit temporarily.

Harmanpreet and Rodrigues were energetic at the crease and shared a 48-run stand in 32 balls, and both fell trying to play big shots off Sugandika Kumari. Harmanpreet top-edged an attempted sweep and was caught at short fine and Rodrigues was caught at long-on. Deepti Sharma added the finishing touches with 20 off 14 balls.

India’s defence got off to a perfect start when Amanjot bowled Hasini Perera with her third ball and Sri Lanka were 0 for 1. Athapaththu came in at No. 3 and announced herself when she smashed Amanjot through point and then hooked her over fine leg; it was clear India would have something of a fight on their hands. But Athapaththu struggled to sustain her fluency and though her stand with Vishmi Gunaratne grew 68, the required run rate climbed to 7.5 an over. When Amanjot returned for a second spell, Gunaratne was bowled as she moved too far across her stumps and missed a flick.

Athapaththu was on 25 off 39 balls then and upped her tempo to reach a 19th ODI half-century off 63 balls but had already offered India a chance. She was on 43 when she smashed the ball back at Rana and it burst through the Indian offspinner’s hands. Rana also appeared to injure herself attempting the catch but returned to get her own back. She lured Athapaththu forward with a full ball that snuck under the bat and bowled her. Sri Lanka were 121 for 3 in the 24th over and still needed 222 runs from 26.4 overs and it seemed only a matter of time before India would get their hands on the trophy.

Sri Lanka put up some late resistance through Samarawickrama, who scored 26 off 32 balls before sending Amanjot to backward point. Rana picked up a second when Nilakshika Silva was caught at long-off. Sri Lanka’s eighth-wicket pair of Sanjeewani and Kumari frustrated India’s attack and put on 47 in 53 balls. It took a run-out and a double-strike from Rana in her final spell to finish things off. Still, India sounded a warning ahead of this year’s World Cup, where they are among the favourites. Sri Lanka, who don’t have any more matches scheduled before the tournament, have some work to do.

Brief scores:

India Women 342 for 7 in 50 overs (Pratika Rawal 30, Smriti Mandhana 116, Harlene Deol 47, Harmanpreet Kaur 41, Jemimah Rodrigues 44, Deepti Sharma 20*; Malki Madara 2-74, Dewmi Vihanga 2-69, Sugandika Kumari 2-59) beat Sri Lanka Women 245 in 48.2 overs  (Vishmi Gunaretne 36, Chamari Athapaththu 51, Nilakshika Silva 48, Harshitha Samarawickreme 26, Anushka Sanjeewani 28, Sugandika Kumari 27; Sneh Rana 4-38, Amanjot Kaur 3-54) by 97 runs

[Cricinfo]


Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest News

Advisory for Severe Lightning issued For Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western province

Published

7 hours ago

on

2026/04/25

By

Advisory for Severe Lightning
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 12.00 noon 25 April 2026 valid for the period until 11.30 p.m. 25 April 2026

Thundershowers accompanied with severe lightning are likely to occur in the  Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya
districts after 1.00 p.m.

There may be temporary localized strong winds during thundershowers. General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning
activity.

ACTION REQUIRED:
The Department of Meteorology advises that
people should:
• Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
• Avoid open areas such as paddy fields, tea plantations and open water bodies during thunderstorms.
• Avoid using wired telephones and connected electric appliances during thunderstorms.
• Avoid using open vehicles, such as bicycles, tractors and boats etc.
• Beware of fallen trees and power lines.
• For emergency assistance contact the local disaster management authorities.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Kohli, Padikkal hit fifties as Royal Challengers Bengaluru ace the chase against Gujarat Titans

Published

14 hours ago

on

2026/04/25

By

Virat Kohli hit eight fours, to go with four sixes [Cricinfo]

An exhibition of clean hitting by Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal ensured Sai Sudarshan’s measured 100 off 58 balls ended in a losing cause as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) beat Gujarat Titans (GT) by five wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

After winning the toss, RCB captain Rajat Patidar had no hesitation in putting GT in. Sudharsan laid a strong foundation on a pitch he described as “two-paced and sticky to start with”. But even when the surface became easier to bat on, GT could not get into overdrive. They scored only 35 in the last four overs and finished on 205 for 3.

In response, Kohli, who was dropped on zero, smashed 81 off 44 balls and Padikkal blasted 55 off just 27. They put on 115 in 9.5 overs for the second wicket, and despite a bit of wobble towards the end, RCB romped home with seven balls to spare.

The GT openers prefer to take as few risks as possible and it was no different on Friday. Sudharsan was circumspect at the start and was on 17 off 16 after three overs. But he found his timing after that and moved to 41 off 27 by the end of the fifth. Gill had faced just three balls till then. GT finished the powerplay on 57 for no loss.

Sudharsan went inventive after the powerplay, scooping Romario Shepherd for a six. When Krunal Pandya bowled a bouncer, he uppercut him over deep third. Later in the over, he slog-swept the spinner for another six, reaching 2000 runs in the IPL. Taking 47 innings, he was the fastest to get there, bettering Chris Gayle’s record by one.

He and Gill added 128 in 12.4 overs, with Gill contributing 32 off 24 balls. The GT captain was starved of strike throughout his stay and holed out to long-on off Suyash Sharma. Sudharsan brought up his hundred off 57 balls, the slowest of the six so far this season. There was no cutting loose after reaching the milestone either. He was out on the very next ball he faced.

GT were 170 for 2 after 16 overs but Suyash, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hazlewood gave away only 17 in the next three. At 187 for 3, Rasikh Salam ran in to bowl the final over but he stopped even before he could bowl a delivery. It looked like cramps and despite the physio working on him, he had to walk off the field. Krunal replaced him and was hit for a six by Jason Holder off the first ball. After another ball, Krunal too pulled out of his delivery stride holding his groin. But after a bit of medical attention, he completed the over, but ended up leaking 18 runs.

With Phil Salt injured, Jacob Bethell finally got a chance to play this season. Opening the innings after coming in as Impact Player, he had a close shave in the second over. He got an inside edge to a length ball from Kagiso Rabada but it missed the stumps and beat Buttler for four. In the next over, he shuffled across and hit Mohammed Siraj for a four on either side of the wicket. But when he tried the same trick later in the over, he hit it straight to the backward point. He made 14 off ten.

Kohli was dropped off the first ball he faced. It was a length delivery from Siraj that he flicked uppishly towards short midwicket but Washington Sundar grassed a regulation chance. Kohli made his intentions clear in the following over when he hit Rabada over mid-on for a four.

Padikkal was even more ruthless. He opened his account with a first-ball six, picking up a 153.6kph length ball from Rabada over square leg. The GT bowlers didn’t help themselves by bowling onto his pads, and he kept flicking them fine for boundaries.

Rashid Khan wasn’t spared either. He dropped one short to Kohli and the batter duly pulled it over deep midwicket for a six before cutting the following delivery for four. In the spinner’s second over, Padikkal hit him for two sixes, the second one taking him to his fifty off just 20 balls. It made Kohli’s 30-ball fifty look pedestrian.

Rashid bowled Padikkal with a googly from around the wicket, and Kohli played Holder on but not before hitting the allrounder for back-to-back sixes.

Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma kept the attack going. They hit a six each off Rashid but fell in quick succession. Suddenly, RCB were five down with 31 required from four overs. Krunal, though, bashed Manav Suthar for two fours and a six in the 18th over, bringing the equation down to seven needed from 12. In the penultimate over, he swatted Holder through midwicket for four before wrapping up the game with a gentle pull to fine leg.

Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 206 for 5 in 18.5 overs (Jacob Bethell 14, Virat Kohli 81, Devdutt Padikkal 55, Jitesh Sharma 10, Tim David 10*, Krunal Pandya 23*; Mohammed Siraj 1-25, Jason Holder 1-35, Rashid Khan 2-49, Manav  Suther 1-19) beat Gujarat Titans 205 for 3 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 100, Shubman Gill 32, Jos Buttler 25, Washington Sundar 19*,Jason Holder 23*; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-31, Josh Hazelwood 40, Suyash Sharma 1-36) by five wickets

[Cricinfo]

Continue Reading

Latest News

Heat Index at Caution Level in the Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa and  Eastern provinces during the day time

Published

15 hours ago

on

2026/04/25

By

Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 3.30 p.m. on 24 April 2026, valid for 25 April 2026.

Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa and
Eastern provinces during the day time.

The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.


Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.

ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.

Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.

Continue Reading

Trending