Katunayake (Sri Lanka): Young Jemimah Rodrigues (36, 15b, 3×4, 3×6) and Poonam Yadav (4/26) produced special performances with bat and ball to fire India to a 13-run win over Sri Lanka in the first T20I and lead 1-0 of the five-match series here Wednesday. In the process Rodrigues also became the first Indian women to hit three sixes in an over.
Opting to bat first, India posted a challenging 168 for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs, thanks to useful contributions from Taniya Bhatia (46, 35b, 6×4, 1×6) and Anuja Patil (36, 29b, 5×4). Udeshika Prabodhani (2/18) and Chamari Attapattu (2/23) starred with the ball for the hosts.
In reply, Sri Lanka made a flying start in the chase through Yasoda Mendis (32, 12b, 5×4, 2×6) and skipper Atapattu (27, 22b, 5×4), racing to 39 runs in 2.5 overs before the former was dismissed by Arundhati Reddy (1/37).
The hosts remained in hunt until leg-spinner Yadav’s consistent breakthroughs took the game away from them as they were 155 all out in 19.3 overs. Radha Yadav (2/15) and Harmanpreet Kaur (2/19) too chipped in with the ball. Eshani Lokusuriyage (45, 31b, 5×4, 1×6) top scored for Sri Lanka but her spirited effort did not proved enough in the end.
Brief scores: India 168/7 (Taniya Bhatia 46, Jeminah Rodrigues 36; Udeshika Prabodhani 2/18) bt Sri Lanka 155 (Eshani Lokusuriyage 45; Poonam Yadav 4/26) in 19.3 overs by 13 runs.
