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Jemimah Rodrigues' unbeaten half-century guided the Harmanpreet Kaur-led India Women to a dominating eight-wicket win against Sri Lanka Women in the first T20I of the five-match series at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
With this commanding win, the Women in Blue took a 1-0 lead in the ongoing T20I series against Sri Lanka. While chasing a 122-run target, Jemimah hammered an unbeaten 69 runs off 44 deliveries, with the help of 10 fours that helped India Women to chase down the target in just 14.4 overs. Jemimah also equalled Mithali Raj's four 50-plus scores against Sri Lanka in T20Is. Earlier, Smriti Mandhana, who scored 25 runs, became the second woman to reach the landmark of 4000 runs in T20Is after New Zealand's Suzie Bates (4716 runs). Mandhana is also the quickest to do so in terms of balls taken (3227) than Bates, who took 3675 balls to reach the 4000 runs milestone. During the chase, Mandhana and Jemimah stitched a crucial 54-run partnership for the second wicket that put India into a commanding position. Jemimah also stitched an unbeaten 55-run stand for the third wicket with captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who made an unbeaten 15 that helped Women in Blue win the first T20I by eight wickets. After opting to field first, India Women produced a disciplined bowling performance to restrict Sri Lanka to 121/6 in their 20 overs. Three Sri Lankan batters were run out. Kranti Gaud, Deepti Sharma and Shree Charani picked up a wicket each to keep the visitors on a tight leash throughout the innings. Sri Lanka opener Vishmi Gunaratne was the top scorer for the visitors, scoring 39 off 43 balls. She held one end but struggled to accelerate and was eventually dismissed in the 17.5th over. The visitors suffered an early setback when captain Chamari Athapaththu became the first wicket to fall with the score on 18. She managed 15 before being cleaned up by Kranti Gaud. Sri Lanka reached 31/1 in the power play, which was under six runs per over. Hasini Perera was the second batter to be dismissed after making 20 off 23 balls, falling to Deepti Sharma in the 9.1 over. Sri Lanka brought up their 50 in 9.3 overs but continued to struggle to increase the run rate. Harshitha Samarawickrama also found boundaries hard to come by, scoring 21 off 23 balls with two fours. The visitors reached the 100-run mark in the 17.4th over. Nilakshika Silva and Kavisha Dilhari were both run out. Among the bowlers, Deepti Sharma was the most economical, returning figures of 1/20 in her four overs, which included a maiden. Kranti Gaud finished with 1/23 from three overs, while Shree Charani conceded 30 runs and picked up one wicket in her four overs. Brief scores: Sri Lanka Women 121/6 in 20 overs (Vishmi Gunaratne 39, Harshitha Samarawickrama 21; Deepti Sharma 1/20) vs India Women (Jemimah Rodrigues 69*, Smriti Mandhana 25; Inoka Ranaweera 1/17). (ANI)
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