A strokeful unbeaten 52 off 27 balls by skipper Harmanpreet and a 98-run opening wicket partnership between Shafali Verma and Smriti Madhana helped India to defeat Sri Lanka by 82 runs for its biggest ever win the women’s T20 World Cup. India’s previous best win was against Bangladesh in the 2014 T20 World Cup, winning by 79 runs.
It was India’s second win in three games, putting it in the number two spot in the pool behind the defending champions Australia. With this loss, Sri Lanka has gone out of contention for a place in the knockout round with three defeats in as many matches.

After suffering a humiliating loss in its opener against New Zealand, India had to record a win by a minimum of 45 runs to stay in the run for a semi-final berth from its pool. India did it by dominating its continental rivals in all departments – batting, bowling, and fielding.
“It was a total team effort. We batted well, bowled well, and fielded well. This is a great morale-boosting win for us ahead of our crucial game against the defending champions Australia,” said Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur who also got the Player of the Match award.
After winning the toss, India elected to bat first. The opening pair of Shafali Verma and Smriti Madhana started well maintaining a good average of six runs an over before escalating the run rate after the eighth over. Smriti, who was a little slow in the beginning opened up and smashed six and four boundaries while completing her first 50 of the tournament. She faced 38 balls and was unluckily run out while trying to steal a single in the 13th over. On the very next ball, her partner, Shafali, who also batted well for her score of 43 made from 40 balls with four hits to the fence, departed on the next ball making India 98 for two.
This brought skipper Harmanpreet and Jemnich Rodrigues together. They continued their offensive against the Sri Lankan bowlers. Rodrigues left after contributing 16 from 10 balls. It was at this stage that skipper Harmanpreet went all out as she smashed Sri Lankan bowlers for eight boundaries and a towering six to complete her fifty from 27 balls. Her unbeaten knock helped India to amass its biggest total of the tournament. India put up a huge challenge to Sri Lanka of scoring 173 runs for a win.
Indian bowlers were quick to strike back as Renuka Singh and S. Patel brought initial luck to the team. Except for a 34-run stand between Kavisha Dilhari (21) and Anushka Sanjeewani (20) and some lusty hitting by Ama Kanchana, the Sri Lankans could manage to each 90 before being bowled out in 19.5 overs thus giving full two points. Arundhati Reddy and Asha Sobhana were the main wreckers of the Sri Lankan innings with three wickets apiece, each conceding 19 runs in four overs each bowled by them. Renuka Singh ended with two for 16 while S. Patil (1 for 15) and Deepti Sharma (1 for 16) were the other successful bowlers for India.
(Prabhjot Singh is a senior journalist. He writes with equal aplomb on sports and politics. He can be reached at Prabhjot416@gmail.com)