3 player battles to watch out for in IND vs SL 2024 Women's T20 World Cup match ft. Chamari Athapaththu vs Deepti Sharma
The last time India and Sri Lanka women met in an international white-ball match, the latter scripted one of their most famous wins in history.
An eight-wicket triumph in the Asia Cup final led by two youngsters in front of a packed crowd in Dambulla felt like a watershed moment in Sri Lanka's cricket journey. But coming to the World Cup as the Asian Champions, Sri Lanka have looked anything but inspired.
Their abilities on pitches different from those at home have torn the stitches on their weaknesses. First Pakistan and then Australia have exploited the over-reliance on skipper Chamari Athapaththu to keep the Islanders winless.
A familiar opponent in India would give them hope to take something back from the tournament. However, this time, it's Harmanpreet Kaur's team who are looking for that moment of inspiration from the contest, something to elevate their path.
India not only need to win this game after a defeat to New Zealand and two points against Pakistan, but they need to win by a massive margin, enough to take them ahead of the Kiwis in NRR. Like Sri Lanka, India's best game seems to have been left cuddled up somewhere in Delhi, and is yet to show even a glimpse on the slow and low pitches of the UAE.
Whether or not it comes back and the possibility of another Sri Lankan knockout would depend on a few key match-ups in the game. We have listed three here:
#3 Smriti Mandhana vs Kavisha Dilhari
This is the key battle that Sri Lanka claimed, though belatedly, in the Asia Cup final. Off-spinner Kavisha Dilhari lured Indian opener and that innings' highest run-scorer Smriti Mandhana into a false shot and Athapaththu took a brilliant catch.
Mandhana's troubles against off-spinners are well-documented. The left-hander has looked particularly out of place on the slow tracks in the World Cup with her inability to manufacture shots with footwork and power consistently being found out against well-oiled plans.
Although Athapaththu can bowl some off-spin too, Dilhari, 23, is someone Sri Lanka can bring on as soon as the second over to tackle Mandhana. The Indian opener would be under pressure to get runs against the hard ball in the powerplay and there couldn't be a better opponent to test her patience.
#2 Shreyanka Patil vs Harshitha Samarawickrama
Harshitha Samwarawickrama is considered the heir of Athapaththu. She, alongside Dilhari, led the batting charge in the second innings of the Asia Cup final and played a blinding unbeaten knock of 69 (51).
But India's bowling attack in that game didn't have one of their most intelligent young prospects, Shreyanka Patil. The off-spinner took two wickets the other day against Pakistan, Muneeba Ali and Tuba Hassan, and looked like the best bowler on the pitch.
Patil is slowly growing to be one of the best T20 bowlers in the country, as she reads batters well and uses her variations brilliantly. The pitches in the UAE are supporting her variations too, making her a big threat in the middle-overs, where Harshitha would bat.
If they come across each other, expect Patil to try and tie Harshitha down on one end and make her use her feet. When the batter does that, Patil might try to deceive her in flight and either bowl it slow and wide or flat and quick on the body to outfox her.
Harshitha is short on runs and won't want that to continue anymore. There's an opportunity for both youngsters and to come on top for themselves and their team, making it a riveting battle.
#1 Chamari Athapaththu vs Deepti Sharma
Coincidentally, this is the third straight off-spinner versus left-hander battle but that's the kind of game this is. If Shreyanka and Harshitha are the new generation for this contest, Athapaththu and India's Deepti Sharma can be considered the OGs.
Athapaththu is the heartbeat of the Sri Lankan line-up and Deepti is India's most important all-rounder. When the former was going bang-bang and crossed 60 runs in the Asia Cup final, it was Deepti who came out of nowhere to bowl her.
This time, India would likely put the offie against the Sri Lankan skipper early on, considering her troubles in the powerplay in the last two games.
Athapaththu is due a big knock in this tournament, while Deepti is due a proper match-winning spell on helpful conditions. Whoever comes on top would likely define the course of this all-important clash.