PALELECAL: Captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Pooja Vastrakar’s all-rounder performances helped the Indian women’s team clean the series with a 39-run win over Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI here on Thursday. Harmanpreet (75 runs in 88 balls, one wicket for 21 runs in five overs) and Vastrakar (56 not out off 65 balls, two wickets for 32 runs) first took the team with a 97-run partnership for the seventh wicket and nine wickets. But helped to make a score of 255 runs.

The hosts were bundled out for 216 runs in 47.3 overs

The bowlers then executed the strategy well and bundled out the hosts for 216 runs in 47.3 overs. In this, both Harmanpreet and Vastrakar gave important blows. With the win in this series, the Indian women’s team won their fourth consecutive bilateral series against Sri Lanka. The women’s team had earlier won ODI series in 2013, 2015 and 2018 as well. Having already taken an unassailable lead in the series, Harmanpreet’s side looked confident in the final match, which the Sri Lankan team lacked from the start.

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Sri Lanka team captain Chamari Atapattu won the toss and invited to bat on a pitch which is famous for giving advantage to the team batting first. Openers Shefali Verma and Smriti Mandhana, who performed brilliantly in the second ODI, however, failed to form a big partnership. Mandhana (six runs in 20 balls) was the first player to be dismissed, who fell victim to a length ball from Kavisha Dilhari.

Harmanpreet played responsibly and handled the short balls of the Sri Lankan bowlers better

Shefali continued her good form by scoring 49 runs in 50 balls. She missed the second half-century in a row and was out leg before Rashmi Silva. Shefali was the top scorer of the series with 155 runs in three matches. India’s middle-order collapsed after Shefali’s dismissal at the crucial moment took the team’s score to 124 for six. But Harmanpreet, playing responsibly, handled the short balls of the Sri Lankan bowlers in a better way. He hit seven fours and two huge sixes. Most of his boundaries hit midwicket.

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The Indian captain completed his half-century by hitting a brilliant six at deep midwicket. Vastrakar played his captain well and scored his second half-century in women’s ODIs, which included three sixes. Chasing the target, Sri Lankan captain Atapattu (44 runs in 41 balls). And Hasini Perera (39 runs in 57 balls) showed good spirit. The duo added 56 runs for the second wicket but after the captain’s dismissal, the team’s batsmen found it difficult to play Rajeshwari Gaikwad (3/36 in 10 overs) while other bowlers also bowled tightly against the home team. Of.