World Cup T20: Indian women lose World T20 opener

Sylhet (Bangladesh), March 24 (IANS) The Indian women’s team lost their World Twenty20 opener to Sri Lanka by 22 runs at the Sylhet stadium here on Monday.

India made a mess of the modest 129-run target set by Sri Lankans, managing only 106 for nine in 20 overs. The batting came a cropper as Shruti Pandey (22) was the only one to score more than 20 runs.

Sri Lanka had made 128 for eight, thanks to Chamari Atapattu (43) and Eshani Lokusuriyage (34).

India needed 46 runs from the last five overs with five wickets in hand; however, a batting collapse from there on pushed India out of the game.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 128 for eight in 20 overs (Chamari Atapattu 43, Eshani Lokusuriyage 34; Poonam Yadav 2 for 20), India 106 for 9 in 20 overs (Shikha Pandey 22; Udeshika Prabodhani 2 for 9, Maduri Samuddika 2 for 20).