Women's T20 World Cup 2024/25, IND-W vs SL-W, Match 12, Group A Match Report, October 9, 2024

India Defeated 172 for 3 (Harmanpreet 52*, Mandhana 50, Shafali 43, Athapaththu 1-34). Sri Lanka 90 (Dilhari 21, Sanjeewani 20, Reddy 3-19, Asha 3-19) by 82 runs

Shafali and Mandhana remind us of what India has missed

Before Wednesday, India's opening stands against Pakistan and New Zealand were 18 and 11 respectively. In a tournament where batting first seemed to give teams an advantage, India batted second in both games. India were allowed to bat first after Harmanpreet won her first toss and the openers set about their task with determination.

Mandhana finally got going with a hit over the head of left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari as India finished the powerplay on 41 for 0. She also hit another left-arm spinner, Inoka Ranaweera, for a six-over long-on the next year to signal the change of pace. India managed to hit at least one four in every over between the third and ninth overs. Chamari Athapaththu kept India guessing by giving her bowlers one-over spells until the 13th over, by which time Mandhana overtook Shafali to reach her fourth T20 World Cup half-century.

Harmanpreet greets from No. 3

It took a while for India's opening partnership to end at 98, the third highest in T20 World Cups, as Athapaththu and Ama Kanchana – substituted for Hasini Perera – narrowly overtook Mandhana on 50. On the very next ball, Athapaththu Shafali missed a chip to cover. The over meant that Athapaththu ended the one-spell strategy and bowled a second over in the spell in the 13th and 15th overs.

After struggling against Pakistan at No. 4, Harmanpreet came into the game at No. 3 and was soon joined by Jemimah Rodrigues before she even faced the ball. Few batters in the Indian lineup have as good a feel against spin as Rodrigues. She used the momentum to initially throw Ranaweera away and then moved inside her crease to pull Athapaththu to the deep edge of square leg.

On the other hand, Harmanpreet Kumari hit for a four and a six to ensure that the opening platform was not lost. Rodrigues soon failed on 16 off 10 – she was given life on 13 when Kavisha Dilhari dropped a dolly at deep midwicket – but played a crucial role in providing momentum after two quick wickets.

At this point, Harmanpreet, who was followed by a cushion from a long batting line-up, broke loose. She initially paddled Kanchana past her short fine leg before hitting two fours to spoil Athapaththus' figures. Ranaweera failed to hold on to a powerful hit at cover when Harmanpreet was on 22. She hit Kanchana and Prabodhani for two fours each in the last two overs, reaching only her third half-century in T20Is since the 2023 T20 World Cup. That blitz – 52 not out, just 27 balls – helped India score 46 from the last four Overs to get out, the most of any team in this T20 World Cup.

She was ruled out against Pakistan due to a neck injury and had come to the throw with a pain-relieving plaster on the right side of her neck, but was found fit for this game. However, she did not make it into the field in the chase as Mandhana was the captain of the team.

Sri Lanka slips into the chase

Heading into the T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka had the most wins since April last year and their win-loss ratio was better than that of India and Australia. Given that they had fought for 166 runs to win their maiden Asia Cup title, it would have been a bit premature to write them off in the 173-run chase in Dubai. But India was on the right track from the start and didn't even let it get to them.

An athletic performance from Radha Yadav, who came on for Harmanpreet, on the second ball of the chase set the tone. She ran back to the right from reverse point and dived full-length to catch a mistake from Vishmi Gunaratne. Mandhana then handed the new ball to Shreyanka Patil at the other end, ahead of Deepti Sharma. Patil responded by pushing one a little faster and making it spin away, which tempted Athapaththu into a defensive, hard jab to use the edge to slip. When Renuka Singh Harshitha let Asia Cup final star Samarawickrama take an outside advantage in the third over, the challenge was all but undone.

Legspinner Asha then joined the group in the middle overs and grabbed three wickets, using the sharp spin available to reverse the batters. Her biggest wicket was that of Anushka Sanjeewani, who was the executor in the 37-run fourth-wicket with Dilhari. After flicking a few balls to the batter, Asha pulled the long ball to deceive the Sri Lanka wicketkeeper, with Richa Ghosh catching her by surprise. Asha and Reddy, the players of the match against Pakistan, struck regularly through the midfielders. Both finished with identical figures of 3 for 19, with Reddy's efforts commendable after she was scored for 12 in her first over. For the third time in a row, Sri Lanka finished the competition with a double-digit total score.

It was a game that raised India's hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals, with their final league game against Australia on Sunday.