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Vastrakar, Harmanpreet do the star turn
India wrapped up the ODI series with a 39-run win.
Thousands of miles from England where the men’s cricket team recently stumbled to a seven-wicket hammering in the fifth Test, Indian women wrapped up a 3-0 ODI series win against Sri Lanka in Pallekele on Thursday. Shafali Verma, captain Harmanpreet Kaur, and Pooja Vastrakar showed their batting prowess in the last game to enable their team log a 39-run triumph.
Batting first, India were reduced to 124/6 with Verma (49), Smriti Mandhana (6), Yastika Bhatia (30), Harleen Deol (1), Deepti Sharma (4), and Richa Ghosh (2) back in the dressing room. Coming in at No 8, Vastrakar joined skipper Kaur and changed the complexion of the game with her unbeaten 65-ball 56 which included three sixes.
In fact, Vastrakar became the first player to score 50+ runs in a women’s ODI knock that consists of sixes but not fours. Earlier too, Vastrakar, who hails from Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh, had hit one half-century batting at number eight and another at number nine. It was Kaur and Vastrakar’s 97-run seventh-wicket stand that ensured a decent total of 255/9.
Verma’s 50-ball 49 gave India the perfect start. With this knock, the 18-year-old ended the series as the highest run-scorer for India. Kaur led from the front and scored 88-ball 75 which included seven fours and two sixes. In reply, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 216 with India’s seasoned left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad picking up three wickets, giving away 36 runs.
Kaur picked up the prized wicket of Lanka captain Chamari Atapattu who scored 44 runs off 41 balls. Nilakshi de Silva’s unbeaten 48 also went in vain. Medium-pacers Vastrakar and Meghna Singh bowled well to take two wickets apiece.
India go back from the island nation on a high after winning the T20I series 2-1 and taking the ODI series 3-0. With a three-week break ahead of them before T20 cricket debuts at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, India would look to maintain the winning momentum and grab a medal there.
