Raj fifty lifts India to series win

India Women 108 for 5 (Raj 51*, Patil 34, Ranaweera 3-10) beat Sri Lanka Women 107 for 8 (Surangika 27, Yadav 3-17, Bisht 3-22) by five wickets
Scorecard

File photo – Mithali Raj’s 52-ball 51 resurrected India’s chase © ICC

Mithali Raj anchored India Women’s chase with a steady fifty to lift them to an unassailable 2-0 series lead in the three-match series against Sri Lanka Women in Ranchi. Chasing 108, India were reduced to 27 for 4 in the seventh over before Raj and Anuja Patil combined for a 77-run stand to rescue the hosts.

India lost Vellaswamy Vanitha, Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma in successive overs, before wrecker-in-chief Inoka Ranaweera trapped Veda Krishnamurthy in the seventh over to leave India reeling. Patil and Raj then took India to the brink of victory, before Patil was caught and bowled. However, Raj went on to bring up her half-century and take India home with an over to spare. Left-arm spinner Ranaweera took 3 for 10 from four overs.

Earlier, Sri Lanka got off to a slow start after opting to bat. Shikha Pandey removed Yasoda Mendis, who made an 18-ball 3, in the sixth over. Chamari Atapattu (22), Dilani Manodara (27) and Shashikala Siriwardene (26) all made contributions to help Sri Lanka reach a decent total.

India’s bowlers pulled back things towards the end to keep Sri Lanka to 108. Ekta Bisht took 3 for 22, while Poonam Yadav claimed 3 for 17, all her wickets coming in the penultimate over.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.


Source: ESPN Crickinfo

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