India women eye series win against Sri Lanka in 2nd T20I

Smriti Mandhana. File Pic

India will be looking to seal the series against Sri Lanka when the two side meet in Dambulla on June 25th. The visitors started the series with a convincing win thanks to an impressive 27 ball 36 from the returning Jemimah Rodrigues.

The rest of the batting line-up also got decent starts but none of could convert it into a substantial score. Meanwhile, among the bowlers, spinner Deepti Sharma and pacer Pooja Vastrakar were the standout performers giving away only 23 runs from a combined 6 overs.

For the second T20I, Smriti Mandhana will look to get back among the runs while skipper Harmanpreet Kaur is 24 runs away from surpassing Mithali Raj as India's highest run-getter in women's T20I cricket.

On a slugging wicket yielding turn, India will need to be wary of Sri Lanka's spin duo of Inoka Ranaweera and Oshadi Ranasinghe and will have to mix caution with aggression to pick up another win.

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As for Sri Lanka, their batting unit let them down. Only Kavisha Dilhari managed to score more than 16 runs. The island nation would want a lot more from their experienced players like Chamari Athapaththu.

Winning the series would give the Indian women a great boost of confidence heading into the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. This will be the first time women's cricket will feature in the event.

(With inputs from PTI)