India defeated Sri Lanka by 59 runs via the DL method in their first outing of the ongoing ICC Women's ODI World Cup at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday, September 30. The Women in Blue thoroughly dominated the match and took home their first points from this tournament. India batted first and put up a gigantic total of 269-8 on the board in their quota of 50 overs. Lower-order batter Amanjot Kaur starred with the willow for India and ended up becoming their highest scorer with 57 runs. Deepti Sharma (53), Harleen Deol (48), and Pratika Rawal (37) also contributed with the bat to help India amass this big total.
Although their opener, Smriti Mandhana (8), and captain Harmanpreet Kaur (21) could not quite convert their starts into big scores, the other Indian batters ensured that they never lagged behind the scoring rate. For Sri Lanka, Inoka Ranaweera was the most successful bowler, as she returned with figures of 4-46. The left-arm spinner used the intricacies of the pitch well and confused the Indian batters with her accurate lines and lengths. Sri Lanka must have hoped that this performance could stir their batters into action, but to no avail.
With the bat, Sri Lanka failed to get going and could only put up 211 on the board before being bowled out inside the 46th over. A lot rested on opener and captain Chamari Athapaththu, and she got a good start to her innings, but was dismissed for 43 and failed to convert it into a big score. Apart from the skipper, only Nilakshi De Silva could cross the 30-run mark and ended her innings at 35. The home team's spinners ran riot in this match, with Sree Charani, Deepti Sharma, and Sneh Rana picking up seven wickets between themselves. India next play their arch-rivals Pakistan Women on Sunday, October 5, in Colombo, whereas Sri Lanka face Australia a day prior at the same venue.