The Indian women’s cricket team will look to clinch the three-match ODI series with a win against Sri Lanka in the second match on Monday and also look to do well from their top order, especially the openers. After clinching the T20I series 2-1 earlier, India took a 1-0 lead in the ODI series after registering a four-wicket win in the low-scoring opening match from 72 balls.
We have to win the series 3-0
All-rounder Pooja Vastrakar said in the pre-match press conference, “Our strategy will remain the same, we have to win the series 3-0 and dominate all the matches. Whatever we have planned and prepared. It needs to be implemented.” Despite this easy win, the Indian ‘think tank’ must have had some concerns about the opening pair of vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and young Shefali Verma. And that is because these two batsmen have not been able to form any strong partnership on the tour so far, which has not given the team a quick start.
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Mandhana and Verma would now like to score big as there are only two matches left on the tour. While skipper Harmanpreet Kaur is enjoying her role, apart from scoring runs. She is also picking up wickets with her improvised off-spin. The Indian bowlers, especially the spinners, are making good use of the slow pitches of Sri Lanka. And have played a key role in the team’s victory on the tour.
The visiting team was reduced to just 171 runs in the first ODI
Right arm medium pacer Renuka Singh took three wickets for 29 runs. However, the off-break by Deepti Sharma (3 for 25) broke the backbone of Sri Lanka. As the visitors reduced to just 171 runs in the first ODI. While the Indian bowlers have performed brilliantly on the tour, the batsmen are facing inconsistency.
Verma once again failed to get off to a good start and in the first ODI. Chasing a low score, the top order collapsed. The middle order comprising Harmanpreet, Harleen Deol, Deepti, Pooja Vastrakar led India to victory in the opening match. The Sri Lankan team will hope that skipper Chamari Atapattu inspires the batsmen to perform well with his bat.
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Openers Hasini Perera, Harshita Samarawickrama and Nilakshi de Silva batted well but they need partnerships.
Left-arm spinner Inoka Ranvira dazzled in the bowling but will need help from her teammates. The Sri Lankan team lost the ODI series against Pakistan last month. And would like to avoid losing a second series in this format.
Teams are as follows
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice captain), Shefali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), S Meghna, Deepti Sharma, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gaikwad, Simran Bahadur, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh , Renuka Singh, Tania Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol.
Sri Lanka: Chamari Atapattu (Captain), Nilakshi de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Vishmi Gunaratne, Ama Kanchana, Hansima Karunaratne, Achini Kulsuriya, Sugandha Kumari, Harshita Samarawickrama, Hasini Perera, Udeshika Prabodhani, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Innoka Satyani Ranvira, Anoushka Satyani Ranveera, , Malsha Shehani and Tharika Sewandi.
The match will start at 10 am Indian time.
