New Delhi: On a pleasant Sunday evening at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, India’s batters delivered a brutal reminder of their batting firepower, registering a 30-run win over Sri Lanka in the fourth T20I for a 4-0 series lead.
India’s most impactful batters all came to the party – Shafali Verma set the tone, Smriti Mandhana elevated it and Richa Ghosh finished it off as India piled up 221/2 — their highest-ever total in T20Is.
Batting first, India were ruthless from the outset. Shafali and Smriti stitched together a 162-run opening stand, the highest partnership ever for India in the format, leaving Sri Lanka’s bowlers searching for answers.
Sri Lanka had waited all series to bowl first after posting sub-par totals of 121, 128 and 112 in the previous games. But the script did not change even when India got the chance to bat first and set the tone.
Shafali carried forward her red-hot form, while Smriti initially played the anchor before unfurling her full range. India raced to 61 in the powerplay, with Smriti later revealing she wanted time in the middle to adjust.
“Today, there was a specific change which I really wanted to do in batting. That’s why I wanted to come in and have a feel of it, especially in the centre. I think it was good that I did,” she said.
“The first three matches were a bit tricky in terms of getting back into T20 mode. I had plans against their bowling, I knew what to expect, but in the first few games I probably gave my wicket away trying to execute shots I’d been practicing. I came here early and worked on a few things, but no matter how much you train, doing it out in the middle is always different,” she added.
After two overs, India were 16 without loss. In the third, Shafali and Smriti struck a boundary apiece off Kavisha Dilhari (0/47) to push the score to 26. The onslaught gathered pace in Kawya Kavindi’s (0/47) next over, which went for 14, and from there on, Sri Lanka were clearly on the back foot.
Shafali was in imperious touch, bringing up her half-century in just 30 balls – her third fifty on the trot. Smriti soon caught up with her and upped the ante beautifully. After being 37 off 32 at one point, she smashed 26 runs off her next seven deliveries to surge ahead.
In the process, she became only the fourth woman to cross 10,000 runs in international cricket. It didn’t matter which bowler was introduced. Rashmika Sewwand (0/25) conceded 20 in the 12th over, while skipper Chamari Athapaththu (0/30) went for 18 in the 21st. Nimasha Madhushani conceded 1/40 in her four overs.
Sri Lanka finally felt like they could heave a sigh of relief when Madushani broke the opening stand, dismissing Shafali for 79 off 46 balls in the second ball of the 16th over. Malsha Shehani (1/32) then removed Smriti for 80 off 48 balls in the following over.
But any hopes of pulling things back were quickly extinguished by Richa Ghosh, who launched a late assault with an unbeaten 40 off just 16 balls. She added 53 runs with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (16*), powering India to a big finish.
Sri Lanka responded to the challenge by producing their highest-ever T20I total as well. Hasini Perera (33) gave them a flying start and skipper Chamari (52) joined the charge as they raced to 50 in just 3.3 overs, adding 59 for the opening wicket.
Chamari carried on after Hasini’s dismissal, bringing up her first fifty of the series and keeping Sri Lanka ahead of India’s score at the halfway stage. Every batter who came in showed intent and ensured the chase stayed alive for a long time. India’s bowling also disappointed, barring young left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma who had excellent figures of 2/24 on a day when all other Indian bowlers went for over 7.8 runs per over.
However, India’s explosive second half eventually proved to be the difference as Sri Lanka finished on 191.
Brief Scores: India 221/2 (Shafali Verma 79, Smriti Mandhana 80). Sri Lanka 191/6 (Chamari Athapaththu 52, Vaishnavi Sharma 2/24). India won by 30 runs.
