Pratika Rawal's unbeaten 50-run knock guides India Women to victory over Sri Lanka

Colombo, Apr 27: Pratika Rawal's unbeaten 50-run knock guided Indian Women side to victory over Sri Lanka Women in the first match of the ODI tri-series at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday.

With this victory, Women in Blue have a net run rate of +2.082, and they are at the top of the points table. On the other hand, the hosts, Sri Lanka, are at the bottom of the standings. The match was reduced to 39 overs due to rain. The Indian cricket team is wearing black armbands today to pay homage to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack as a mark of respect for the innocent lives lost and solidarity with the affected families.

Chasing a mere total of 148 runs, the Indian batters Pratika Rawal and Smriti Mandhana came out in the middle to open the innings for the side. Both players started off positively and attacked the bowlers from the first over.

The Indian Women's Cricket Team completed the 50-run mark on the last ball of the ninth over as Pratika slammed a boundary on the bowling of Kavisha Dilhari.

At the score of 54, the Indian team lost the first wicket as Mandhana was sent back to the pavilion after scoring 43 runs off 46 balls. The wicket was taken by left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera.

Following Mandhana's dismissal, right-hand batter Harleen Deol came out to bat in the middle along with Pratika.

The Women in Blue touched the 100-run mark in the 21st over as Harleen Deol smashed a boundary off the bowling of Kavisha Dilhari.

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side completed the chase in the 30th over with nine wickets in hand. Pratika Rawal and Harleen Deol remained unbeaten on the crease.

For Sri Lanka, Inoka Ranaweera (1/32 in 7.4 overs) was the only bowler to snap a wicket for the hosts.

Earlier in the first innings, the Chamari Athapaththu-led side was bundled out for 147 in 38.1 overs. The runs came from Hasini Perera (30), Kavishi Dilhari (25), and Anushka Sanjeewani (22).

For India, three wickets were snapped by Sneh Rana, two wickets each were grabbed by Deepti Sharma and Nallapureddy Charani, and one wicket was bagged by Arundhati Reddy in their respective spells.

Brief Score: Sri Lanka Women 147 all out in 38.1 overs (Hasini Perera 30, Kavishi Dilhari 25, Sneh Rana 3/31) vs India Women 149/1 in 29.4 overs (Pratika Rawal 50*, Harleen Deol 48*; Inoka Ranaweera 1/32).