A combined bowling effort, followed by half-centuries from Harshitha Samarawickrama and Nilakshika Silva, led Sri Lanka to a historic three-wicket victory over India in the fourth match of the Women’s ODI tri-series here at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday.
The victory marked Sri Lanka’s first over India in women’s ODIs since their three-wicket triumph in September 2018.
Put into bat first, the visitors registered a formidable total of 275/9 in 50 overs, courtesy of Richa Ghosh’s half-century.
The wicketkeeper batter top-scored with a 48-ball 58, laced with five fours and three sixes.
Besides her, Jemimah Rodrigues (37), Pratika Rawal (35) and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (30) made notable contributions.
For Sri Lanka, Sugandika Kumari and captain Chamari Athapaththu picked up three wickets each, while Inoka Ranaweera and Dewmi Vihanga made one scalp apiece.
Chasing a daunting 276-run target, the hosts knocked the winning runs for the loss of seven wickets and five balls to spare.
Leading the way for Sri Lanka was middle-order batter Silva, who smashed a blistering 56 off 33 deliveries with the help of five fours and three sixes.
Top-order batter Harshitha Samarawickrama was equally impressive, scoring 53 off 51 deliveries, laced with five boundaries, while Kavisha Dilhari (35) and Vishmi Gunaratne (33) were the other notable run-getters.
Despite their contributions, Sri Lanka faced a stiff challenge to 38 runs in 44 balls with three wickets in hand but an unbeaten partnership between Anushka Sanjeewani and Sugandika Kumari steered them over the line.
Sanjeewani remained unbeaten with a 28-ball 23, while Kumari made 19 not out from 20 deliveries.
Sneh Rana was the standout bowler for India, taking three wickets for just 45 runs in his 10 overs, while Arundhati Reddy, Pratika Rawal and Shree Charani dismissed one batter apiece.