Guwahati: India started their ICC Women’s ODI World Cup campaign on a topsy-turvy note but finished their innings on a high as Amanjot Kaur (57) and Deepti Sharma (53) struck fifties while Sneh Rana propelled the score with a blazing cameo to overshadow Inoka Ranaweera’s four-wicket haul in the rain-shortened tournament opener against Sri Lanka at Guwahati’s Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
A brilliant all-round batting show by Amanjot, Deepti, Harleen Deol (48), and Pratika Rawal (37) before Sneh Rana provided the final flourish with a 15-ball 28 not out as the hosts reached a challenging 269/8 in 47 overs, overcoming a middle-order collapse that had given Sri Lanka a slight edge in the middle overs.
India started the innings on a decent note after being put in to bat first, but suffered an early setback as ace opener Smriti Mandhana walked back, scoring just eight runs off 10 deliveries. Her opening partner, Pratika Rawal, and top-order batter, Harleen Deol, sailed through the tense first Power-play and ended the first 10 overs with the scoreboard reading 43/1.
The match was then halted due to rain, and began only an hour and a half later, with two overs being reduced per innings. Resuming the game, the Indian batters faced difficulty getting going as the delay disrupted their momentum.
Inoka Ranaweera grabbed the opportunity brilliantly and picked up three wickets inside five deliveries of her 26th over as the Women in Blue suffered a terrible collapse. While Deol walked back after a well-made 64-ball 48, Jemimah Rodrigues was dismissed for a golden duck.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who looked settled and had just got going with the bat, was also dismissed in the same over as Ranaweera added a fourth wicket to her kitty.
With Richa Ghosh being promoted one place up the order, the team laid their hopes on the wicketkeeper-batter to anchor the innings, but she followed the middle-order batters back to the dugout soon in the 27th over, and India were down to 124/6 and staring at the possibility of failing to reach even 200..
It was then the all-rounders Deepti Sharma and Amanjot Kaur who carried the game forward and got the scoreboard ticking after the side lost four wickets inside two overs. The latter also survived a couple of scares. While Achini Kulasuriya dropped her off Kavisha Dilhari’s delivery in the 33rd over, she was dropped again, this time by Nilakshi de Silva, off Sugandika Kumari’s delivery in the 38th over. The going was slow and tough as the Indians failed to score a boundary in over 50 balls in the middle overs.
Amanjot, playing her first-ever World Cup game, scored a magnificent half-century as the Women in Blue rode on the all-rounder duo’s backs. Vishmi Gunaratne took a brilliant running catch on the boundary to dismiss Amanjot as the latter’s fanbulour knock came to an end.
Deepti and Amanjot formed a crucial seventh-wicket partnership of 103 runs off 99 deliveries, laying the foundation for the final assault.
With Deepti in good form with the bat, Sneh got going from the word go and sent the opposition bowlers to the cleaners. She faced every delivery with composure, knew where and when to hit the ball, and made a brilliant, 15-ball 28* while Deepti finished with a run-a-ball 53.
They provided the Indian bowlers a ray of hope to defend a decent total as the hosts finished the first innings at 269/8 at the end of 47 overs after another over was cut off due to rain.
Brief scores:
India 269/8 in 47 overs (Amanjot Kaur 57, Deepti Sharma 53, Harleen Deol 48, Sneh Rana 28*; Inoka Ranaweera 4-46, Udeshika Prabhodhani 2-55) against Sri Lanka.
(IANS)
