The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
That's that then from the first T20I as India takes the bragging rights in the opening encounter of the T20I series. Do check Sprotskeeda for the latest sports news and live match commentaries. This has been Lavil Saldanha alongside Shashwat Kumar. We hope to see you sometime soon. ADIOS!
Jemimah Rodrigues (Player of the match for her knock of 36 runs): I think the conditions here in Sri Lanka are pretty similar to what I practice back in Mumbai. It is a touch slower and I look to apply myself and play my natural game. It is a privilege and an honour for us to come to this beautiful nation and play some cricket. We received a lot of support from the crowd and from the national board as well
Harmanpreet Kaur (India captain): Credit to the players, they believed in themselves that they could pull this game back and also to Jemi, who batted very well and took us to a good score. As a unit, we want to take advantage of the first six overs. Apart from that, everything went to plan for us. The facilities are great and we are enjoying our time here. The people are very helpful and given that whatever is happing in the nation, it is good to see crowds flank to the stadiums.
Chamari Athapathuthu (Sri Lanka captain): We dropped a couple of catches and the last over didn't go according to plan. We conceded 20 runs in the powerplay and didn't do well post the powerplay as we failed to score boundaries. 139 is enough to chase, we need to stick to our plans and will have to play positive cricket
A comprehensive win for the touring side as they open their account for the series with a win. They were clinical in all three departments on the field and made sure that it was a little too much for the hosts to chase it down their allotted quota of 120 deliveries. India wins this match and has now taken a 1-0 lead in this 3-match T20I series.
Sri Lanka didn't have the best of the powerplays. They lost the early wicket of Vishmi Gunaratne and since then couldn't find their feet in the chase. They were 28/1 after the powerplay but then lost 3 quick wickets, one of them being their captain Chamari Athapathuthu, and were reduced to 54/4.
It seemed like Kavisha Dilhari will be their knight in the shining armour, but that wasn't the case as she couldn't catch up with the asking rate and played an under-par knock. Ama Kanchana and Nilakshi de Silva tried to up the ante but lost their wickets. In the end, Dilhari showed a glimpse of what her attacking game is, smashing a couple of boundaries and ensuring that the margin of defeat was reduced.
It was an all-around and disciplined bowling performance from India. India picked up 5 wickets with Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma and Shafali Verma picking up wickets. The thunder, with the ball in hand, was stolen by Radha Yadav who picked up 2 wickets in an over and ensured that the back of the chase was broken quite early in the chase. Their fielding wasn't quite up to the mark, as they dropped a couple of catches. They will be discussing this before the next match and will look to hold on to more catches in the next couple of games.
20
overs
104/5score
0
2
4
1
4
1
runs
Harshitha Samarawickrama
10(17)
Kavisha Dilhari*
47(49)
Anushka Sanjeewani
10(8)
Renuka Singh
0/25
19.6 Renuka Singh Thakur to Kavisha Dilhari, excellent yorker on middle and off stump. Dilhari gets her bat down in time and knocks the ball towards long on for a single. India win by 34 runs!
19.5 Renuka Singh Thakur to Kavisha Dilhari, FOUR! SHOT! Length delivery outside off stump. Dilhari plants her front foot and sumptuously crunches it over extra cover for four
19.4 Renuka Singh Thakur to Anushka Sanjeewani, full delivery on off stump. Anushka gets down on one knee and swings it away towards deep mid wicket for another single
19.3 Renuka Singh Thakur to Anushka Sanjeewani, FOUR! Full delivery angled into the batter on leg stump. Anushka jams her bat down in time and squirts the ball past short fine leg for four