Twitter Reactions: All-round show helps India clinch T20I series against Sri Lanka

India and Sri Lanka locked horns again to compete in the second T20I of the three-match series at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Dambulla. India had a winning momentum going into the match as they were leading the series by 1-0, but the Sri Lankans showed great intent to start off the game as they eyed to level the series. However, in the end, it was the visitors who stood victorious and clinched the T20I series.

Sri Lanka elected to bat first after winning the toss. They had a dream start to the innings as openers Chamari Athapaththu (43 off 41) and Vishmi Gunaratne added up an amazing 87 runs. But they really failed to continue and accelerate at a point where it appeared they would undoubtedly reach the 140-mark and fell short of some runs towards the end.

The opening stand was the highlight of the show as no other batter was able to build the innings from thereon. Pooja Vastrakar provided India with the first breakthrough. Harmanpreet Kaur caught and bowled Gunaratne (45 off 50) to send the in-form batter back. Deepti Sharma struck twice to pick Harshitha Madavi (9 off 13) and Nilakshi de Silva (1 off 2) as the Sri Lankan lineup came crashing down. The second half of Sri Lanka’s innings was dominated by India as they restricted the hosts to 125 runs in 20 overs.

Collective performances by batters helped India to finish the chase early

Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana took India to a flying start as the two aimed for the boundaries from the very first ball. Verma (17 off 10) hit Oshadi Ranasinghe for a huge six and a four before being scalped on the following delivery trying to attempt a similar shot. Sabbhineni Meghana’s (17 off 10) tenure on the field was short, but she wreaked havoc in the fifth over as she smashed Udeshika Prabodhani for four boundaries before being dismissed before the end of the powerplay.

Mandhana (39 off 34) and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur looked to build the game, scoring 38 runs for the third-wicket partnership before the former fell prey to Inoka Ranaweera. During her run through the innings, she completed 2000 T20I runs, becoming only the third Indian female cricketer to achieve this feat after Mithali Raj and Kaur. The top performer of the side from the previous match, Jemimah Rodrigues failed to impress this time and had to walk back within a very brief time.

Kaur and Yastika Bhatia (13 off 18) went strong till the end, and with some assistance from Deepti Sharma (5* off 5), the Indian skipper finished off the chase, hitting the winning runs to win the match by five wickets and also clinch the series with a 2-0 lead. With her unbeaten 32-ball 31 runs, Kaur surpassed former India skipper Mithali Raj to become the leading run-scorer for India in Women’s T20Is.