Chamari Athapaththu starred with the bat as she played an unbeaten knock of 80 runs to help Sri Lanka defeat India in the third and final T20I by seven wickets and 18 balls to spare. The Indian bowlers did not have any answer on how to stop the experienced opening batter. Earlier. Harmanpreet Kaur had played an unbeaten knock of 39 as India posted 138/5 in 20 overs. Jemimah Rodrigues also scored 33 with the bat. Earlier, India found themselves in a spot of bother after winning the toss and electing to bat against Sri Lanka in the third and final women's T20I in Dambulla on Monday. India lost Shafali Verma early while Smriti Mandhana and Sabbhineni Meghana failed to kick on after scoring 22 runs each. Apart from losing their top three, India are also struggling with their run-rate and will need the middle-order to come to the party, if they are to post a winning total on board. Hosts Sri Lanka had made two changes with Malsha Shehani and Ama Kanchana coming in for Hasini Perera and Udeshika Prabodhani, while India have fielded an unchanged playing XI. India lead the three-match series 2-0.
Teams: India Women: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Sabbhineni Meghana, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia(wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Simran Bahadur, Renuka Singh, Radha Yadav.
Sri Lanka Women: Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu(c), Harshitha Madavi, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Ama Kanchana, Anushka Sanjeewani(wk), Oshadi Ranasinghe, Sugandika Kumari, Malsha Shehani, Inoka Ranaweera.
Here are the Highlights of the third India vs Sri Lanka Women's T20I in Dambulla
India-W vs Sri Lanka-W 3rd T20I Live Score
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We are back! The players are also back on the field. Chamari Atapattu and Vishmi Gunaratne are the Sri Lankan openers. It's going to be Renuka Singh to open the bowling for India Women. Here we go...
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...THE RUN CHASE…
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Sri Lanka Women bowled with good control but there were phases when they allowed things to drift away. Still, most of their bowlers fared decently and a combined effort from them has restricted India Women below 150. That said, this is exactly the target that the hosts were after in the first T20I but fell short by 34 runs. Can they do better and avoid a clean sweep? Do join us in a short while to find out.
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After choosing to bat first, India Women lost Shafali Verma cheaply but the pair of Smriti Mandhana and Sabbhineni Meghana put on a stand and helped the touring team in getting 37 runs from the Powerplay. Just when the duo looked set to take control, both departed in quick succession and India Women were forced to rebuild. Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues started off slowly as they focused on the rotation of the strike and then went on to construct a 64-run stand, off 56 balls. The latter departed in the end overs, otherwise India Women could have breached the 150-run mark.
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The final over fetched India Women 16 runs and they have ended up with a challenging total on the board. A handy cameo by Pooja Vastrakar towards the end and it was a handy partnership between her and Harmanpreet Kaur at the backend.
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19.6WChamari Atapattu to Pooja Vastrakar
OUT! RUN OUT! Pooja Vastrakar is dropped in the deep but Sri Lanka get a wicket courtesy of a run out! This is fuller on leg, Pooja Vastrakar looks to go big down the ground. However, she miscues it and the ball goes high in the air towards long on. Nilakshi de Silva misjudges it and fails to catch the ball in the end. Harshitha Madavi, who has come from deep mid-wicket, collects the ball quickly and fires a throw at the bowler's end. The batters look to take three runs but Pooja Vastrakar is short of her crease as Chamari Atapattu whips the bails off at the bowler's end. India Women finish with 138/5 in 20 overs!
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Appeal for a run out...
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19.54Chamari Atapattu to Pooja Vastrakar
FOUR! This has been a good over for India, another boundary! Fuller delivery on middle, Pooja Vastrakar hurries down the track and whips it hard towards wide long on. The fielder there misfields a little and the ball crosses the fence.
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19.44Chamari Atapattu to Pooja Vastrakar
FOUR! Now, Pooja Vastrakar joins the act! This is outside off. Pooja Vastrakar walks down the track and hits it over the cover fielder in the ring for a boundary.
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19.31Chamari Atapattu to Harmanpreet Kaur
Kaur skips down the track and pulls this short delivery to deep mid-wicket for a single.