Anuja Patil produced a cameo with the bat to help India post 130 and then took three wickets to guide the women’s cricket team to a 34-run win over Sri Lanka in the first Twenty20 International here on Monday. With this victory, India have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20 series.
Opting to bat, India posted 130 for six and then managed to restrict Sri Lanka to 96 for seven in 20 overs.
Indian women did not have an ideal start as they lost skipper Mithali Raj (3) and VR Vanitha (12) within the first four overs. Smriti Mandhana (35) and Harmanpreet Kaur (36) put them back on track. Anuja provided the final flourish after coming in to bat at No.6. She hit three fours during her 22 that came off 17 balls.
Left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka. She accounted for the top three and ended with figures of 3-28.
Chasing a modest target, Sri Lanka lost opener Yasoda Mendis for eight with Anuja striking in the very first over. In her second over, Anuja returned to dismiss the other opener Chamari Atapattu for a duck to reduce the visitors to 13-2.
Other Indian bowlers Shikha Pandey, Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, Deepti Sharma capitalised on the early strikes and ensured that Sri Lankan players do not settle down.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Dilani Manodara was the only one who offered some resistance with a crucial 41 off 44 balls that included three hits to the fence.
The next-best score was captain Shashikala Siriwardene’s 18 off 29 balls. Even as Anuja finished with career-best figures of 3-14, each of the Indian bowlers came up with an economy rate of under 5.80.