Historic 82-run win propels India’s NRR ambitions in World Cup

The seasoned duo of Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur was back to its sizzling best as India gave a massive boost to their net run rate with an 82run hammering of Sri Lanka in the Womens T20 World Cup 2024 on WednesdayThe 98run stand between Shafali Verma 43 off 40 and Smriti 50 off 38 set the tone for the innings after India opted to bat at the Dubai International Stadium Harmanpreet 52 not out off 27 then got welcome runs in the death overs to push India past 170 the highest total of the competition thus farSri Lanka who had got the better of India in the Asia Cup could never really get going in the run chase and were all out for 90 in 195 overs It was Sri Lankas third loss in as many games effectively putting them out of the semifinals raceWith their second win in three games India remain in the hunt for a last four spot from Group A The loss to New Zealand had put a severe dent to Indias net run rate and they needed a big win to make amends something they managed on WednesdayIt was also Indias biggest margin of victory in the tournament history pushing their run rate to positive from negativeIndias last group game is against the mighty AustraliaAlso ReadIndia set record with highest total post 172 runs for five wickets against SLPacer Renuka Singh Thakur struck on the very first ball of the innings with substitute Radha Yadav taking a stunning catch to get rid of Vishmi GunaratneSri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapattu was the next one to depart as Shreyanka Patil had her caught at first slip for a classical offspinners dismissalSri Lanka were reduced to six for three when Harshitha Samrawickrama went for a flashy drive against Renuka but ended up nicking it to the wicketkeeper Legspinner Asha Sobhana then got into the action and struck thrice to increase the victory margin for her teamEarlier Smriti who had struggled in the tournament up till now due to the slow nature of pitches found it tough initially before getting into the grooveShafali coming up with regular boundaries at the other end helped Smriti settle downWhile the southpaw could not put away offspinner Inoshi Priyadharshani she deposited leftarm spinner Sugandika Kumari down the ground for her first boundaryA little later Smriti stepped out to another leftarm spinner Inoka Ranaweera to smash Indias first six of the Womens T20 World Cup 2024 highlighting the teams serious struggles in the powerhitting departmentShafali on the other hand began well before slowing down Her aggressive play in the powerplay took India to 41 for no lossBoth openers were dismissed off successive balls in the 13th over bringing Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet into the middleHarmanpreet whose consistency has been questioned time and time again showed that she remains Indias most belligerent batter She looked in business ever since she slog swept Kumari for six in the cow corner region in the 15th overHer whirlwind knock comprised eight boundaries including two straight hits off Udeshika Prabhodani in the final overWith agency inputs