Kuala Lumpur: Outclassed in their last game by Bangladesh, India Thursday bounced back with an improved all-round show to notch up a seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka and keep alive their hopes for a final berth in the Women’s Twenty20 Asia Cup here.
After two facile victories over Thailand and Malaysia, India were handed a reality check in their last game by Bangladesh, who notched up a comprehensive seven-wicket win to record their maiden international win over their neighbours across any format.
India, however, dished out an improved performance today with left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht (2/20) snapping two wickets and effecting two run-outs, while senior pro Jhulan Goswami (1/20), Anuja Patil (1/19) and Poonam Yadav (1/23) also taking one wicket each to restrict Sri Lanka to 107 runs for the loss of seven wickets.
Chasing 108 runs to win, openers Mithali Raj (23) and S Mandhana (12) got good starts before they were sent back to the pavilion with India at 55 for two in 11.2 overs. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (24) then cracked a run-a-ball knock before going back to pavilion leaving the side reeling at 70/3.
Veda Krishnamurthy (29) and Anuja Patil (19) then shared a 40-run unbeaten partnership off 32 balls to take India home with seven balls to spare.
India, Pakistan and Bangladesh currently have six points each from four games. But, India are leading the standings with better net run-rate. India will have to beat arch-rivals Pakistan in their must-win last game Saturday to make it to the finals.
Earlier, Sri Lanka skipper Shashikala Siriwardene’s decision to bat first backfired as they lost wickets in regular intervals. Hasini Perera (46) did the bulk of scoring for the Lankans with the help of four boundaries, while opener Yasoda Mendis (27) played a patient knock but none of the other batswomen could reach double figures.
Brief score: Sri Lanka 107/7 (Hasini Perera 46; Ekta Bisht 2/20) lost to India 110/3 in 18.5 overs (Veda Krishnamurthy 29; Oshadi Ranasinghe 1/15) by three wickets.