When one looks at the direct confrontation records for women’s T20Is, it is clear that there is a big gap between India and Sri Lanka, but even in that case, the level of dominance that India has displayed in the first two matches has been quite evident. As was observed in the first match itself, there was nothing different about the second T20I either. India’s spinners continued where they had left in the first match by tightening their screws in the middle overs, and then India’s top order plundered enough runs on the board for them to win comfortably.
Sri Lanka were again under the scanner due to the spin duo of India. Vaishnavi Sharma and N Shree Charani picked two wickets each, as Sneh Rana, who was brought into the playing XI due to the absence of an unwell Deepti Sharma, played a vital role in keeping the run flow under control. India’s bowlers successfully thwarted Sri Lanka’s plans and restricted them to 128-9.
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The batters started well despite losing Vishmi Gunaratne early on, with captain Athapaththu setting an example. She struck against the bowling in the power play, scoring freely and taking Sri Lanka to a good start. But once Athapaththu was out to Rana, misled by flight and then dip in the delivery, things started to go awry for them. Rana then ended up completing a maiden over, maintainingpressure on Sri Lanka through spin. After that, it became difficult for them to fetch boundaries. Sri Lanka lost six wickets for a mere 24 runs in the second half of their innings. Three run-outs also made things tougher for them.
Requiring a small score, India were never in danger. Momentum was generated by opening batting efforts from Smriti Mandhana, who was bowled by an audacious shot, but this brought Shafali Verma into her element. Playing cautiously at the start, Shafali went into overdrive, specially against the spin section, hitting the ball sweetly with conviction. The result was an unbeaten 69 off only 34 balls, reached with well over eight overs remaining.
India sealed a 2–0 lead in Visakhapatnam with ease, leaving Sri Lanka searching for answers as the series moves to Thiruvananthapuram for the remaining matches.
