Colombo: Young Jemimah Rodrigues (57, 40b, 6×4, 2×6) scored a power-packed half century to help India Women beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in the third T20I here Saturday to take 2-0 lead in the five-match series. The second game was washed out.
Opting to field, India restricted the islanders to 131 for the loss of eight wickets with Shashikala Siriwardene (35) and Nilakshi de Silva (31) being the chief contributors after losing opener Yasoda Mendis (three) and Dilani Manodara (seven) cheaply.
Baring, Siriwardene and Nilakshi, none of the home batswomen could really stand in against some tight bowling from rookie medium pacer Arundhati Reddy (2/19) and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (2/3).
In reply, it wasn’t the start India wanted losing opener Smriti Mandhana with just 11 runs on board. Mithali Raj (13) and Taniya Bhatia (five) followed soon before Rodrigues anchored the chase adding 53 runs for the fourth wicket with Harmanpreet (24).
However, the dismissals of both Harmanpreet and Rodrigues in the same over did put them in a spot of bother but India didn’t panic. Veda Krishnamurthy (11 no) and Anuja Patil (8 no) completed the chase without much difficulty.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 131/8 (Shashikala Siriwardene 35; Arundhati Reddy 2/19, Harmanpreet Kaur 2/3) lost to India 132/5 in 18.2 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 57, Harmanpreet Kaur 24) by five wickets.
