In a thrilling start to their ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup campaign, India’s Deepti Sharma stole the show as an all-rounder extraordinaire. She grabbed three key wickets and smashed a crucial half-century, helping the Women in Blue crush Sri Lanka by 59 runs in Guwahati on Tuesday. This performance pushed Deepti past former spinner Neetu David, making her India’s second-highest wicket-taker in women’s ODIs with 143 scalps in 113 matches.
Rain played spoiler, cutting the match to 47 overs a side. Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl first, but India fought back to post 269 for 8. Deepti anchored the innings with a steady 53 off 53 balls, including three boundaries. She teamed up with young gun Amanjot Kaur for a match-saving 103-run partnership for the seventh wicket—the second such century stand at that position or lower in Indian women’s ODI history.
Amanjot, batting at number eight, lit up the scoreboard with 57 runs, featuring six fours and a six. She became just the second Indian player to score a fifty from that low down the order in women’s ODIs, following Pooja Vastrakar’s feats. Sneh Rana added fireworks with an unbeaten 28 off 15 balls, including two fours and two sixes, to push India to a strong total.
Sri Lanka’s chase of 271 got off to a shaky start. Opener Hasini Perera fell for 14, but skipper Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama built a 52-run stand for the second wicket. Chamari top-scored with 43 off 47 balls, blasting four fours and three sixes—her 38th time leading Sri Lanka’s batting in 116 ODIs. Nilakshi de Silva chipped in with 35 off 29, but that was as good as it got.
India’s spinners dominated the middle overs. Deepti claimed 3 for 54, while Sneh Rana took 2 for 32 and left-armer Shree Charani snared 2 for 37. Their spin wizardry restricted Sri Lanka to 211 in 45.4 overs. Sri Lanka’s Inoka Ranaweera impressed with 4 for 46 earlier, becoming the second-oldest player to grab a four-wicket haul in women’s ODIs at 39 years and 224 days.
Deepti’s heroics echoed her 2017 gem against Ireland, where she also scored a fifty and took three wickets in the same match. She’s now in elite company with Jemimah Rodrigues (2023 vs Bangladesh) and Shikha Pandey (2014 vs South Africa). Only veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami stands above her with 255 wickets.
This win gives India momentum in the Women’s Cricket World Cup, with Deepti Sharma emerging as a key player in women’s ODI cricket.
Brief scores: India 269/8 in 47 overs (Amanjot Kaur 57, Deepti Sharma 53; Inoka Ranaweera 4/46) beat Sri Lanka 211 in 45.4 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 43, Nilakshi de Silva 35; Deepti Sharma 3/54, Sneh Rana 2/32).
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