Indian women’s cricket team will bank on its smooth-functioning batting line-up to ward off a tricky Sri Lanka and win the ODI tri-series final here on Sunday.
India’s lone defeat in this event came against the Lankans, but Harmanpreet Kaur’s side has been the most dominant team, finishing at the top of the points table with three wins from four matches.
Sri Lanka finished second with two wins and as many losses, while South Africa were at the bottom of the pile with only one win in four games.
Winning this contest will also be paramount for both India and Sri Lanka as it would help them in the buildup to the ODI World Cup later this year.
The primary reason behind India’s fine run in the tournament is their excellent batting effort. With 201 runs at an average of 67, including a century (123) against South Africa, Jemimah Rodrigues has been India’s best batter here. Others like Pratika Rawal (164), Smriti Mandhana (148) and Deepti Sharma (126) have proved to be vital cogs with timely contributions.
Deepti’s 93 consolidated India’s position against South Africa in a league match, but it was also symbolic of the stability in their lower-order.
Skipper Harmanpreet hasn’t had any big score to her credit so far and often failed to convert the starts into big scores. However, her 41 not out, 30 and 28 in the last three matches indicate that a big knock could be round the corner.
Sneh Rana has been the best bowler in the competition, taking 11 wickets, which included a five-wicket haul against South Africa.
On their part, Sri Lanka will hope that star batter Harshitha Samarawickrama continues to fire against India in key clashes as her 53 played a pivotal role in the hosts’ win in a league match.
The 26-year-old Samarawickrama will also draw confidence from her match-winning 69 not out against India in the T20 Asia Cup final last year, which had powered the islanders to an eight-wicket victory.
With two 50s and 177 runs in four matches, the left-handed Samarawickrama has been Sri Lanka’s best batter in this series.
Home team captain and key all-rounder Chamari Athapaththu, with 88 runs and five wickets in four matches, hasn’t been at her best so far and her contributions in the summit clash could also influence its outcome.
Dewmi Vihanga (nine wickets) has had the strongest of impacts in the competition among Lankan bowlers, but the Indian batters have negated her well earlier in the tournament.
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