INDW v SLW 3rd ODI: India Women win by 39 runs!

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Pooja Vastrakar created strong all-round performance as Indian women loped to a 39-run triumph over a confused Sri Lanka in the last ODI on Thursday to finish a 3-0 rout.

Harmanpreet (75 off 88 balls and 1/21 out of 5 overs) and Vastrakar (56 not out off 65 balls, and 2/32) first bailed the team out with a 97-run seventh wicket stand that guaranteed a good all out of 255 for 9 for the guests. The bowlers then executed the plans impeccably to shoot out the hosts for 216 in 47.3 overs with both Harmanpreet and Vastrakar contributing with critical breakthroughs.

With this series win, the Indian women secured their fourth successive bilateral series triumph against the island nation.

The women’s side had previously won ODI series in 2013, 2015, and 2018. Having already secured a series win, Harmanpreet’s unit came into the last game as a confident bundle, something which the Lankans unmistakably needed from the very beginning.

Also Read: Happy Birthday to ‘Captain Cool’, MS Dhoni’s 41st!

With nothing to lose, Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu won the toss and sent the Indians to bat on a surface that is generally known to lean toward groups batting first. Floated by the extraordinary exhibitions in the second ODI, openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana, notwithstanding, failed to have a major effect.

Mandhana was quick to leave (6 off 20 balls) as she succumbed to a length delivery from Kavisha Dilhari after her attempted cut landed in keeper gloves.

With a half-century added to her repertoire, Shafali proceeded with her great structure getting to 49 off 50 balls for some crisp shots. She missed on her second half-century on run just barely, after Rashmi Silva caught her leg before.

With 155 runs from three coordinates and with a great normal of 77.50, Shafali completed as the main run scorer in the three-match ODI series.

With Shafali leaving at a crucial point, India out of nowhere had a middle-order breakdown as they were left reeling at 124 for 6 preceding Harmanpreet reversed the situation around in style. Harmanpreet finished her fifty with a splendid six over deep mid-wicket region, as she got low and bludgeoned a floated delivery from off-spinner Oshadi Ranasinghe to clear the boundary for the maximum. While Harmanpreet played the captain’s knock, Vastrakar assumed the part of an ideal second fiddle, courtesy three free-streaming sixes to hit her subsequent fifty in women’s ODI.

India beat Sri Lanka by 39 Runs in 3rd ODI.

India clean sweeps ODI series 3-0 against Sri Lanka.#CricketTwitter #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/RaIpOH0myX

— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) July 7, 2022