New Delhi: Twin half centuries by Deepti Sharma (78) and skipper Mithali Raj (53) enabled India to post a healthy 232 for 8 against Sri Lanka in a group stage match of the ICC Women's World Cup at the County Cricket ground in Derby, England on Wednesday.
Opting to bat first India did not start well, losing in-form opening batswoman Smriti Mandhana (8) cheaply. Her opening partner Poonam Raut too took the same rout after looking well set or 16.
After losing the openers for 38, Deepti and Mithali forged a 118-run third-wicket partnership in 26 overs to stabilise the Indian innings.
But just when things seemed good at the middle, Deepti was sent packing in the 37th over by pacer Ama Kanchana. Deepti slammed 10 boundaries in her 110-ball knock.
Deepti’s wicket stemmed the flow of runs and the experiment of sending Jhulan Goswami to escalate the run rate did not work out as she was dismissed in the 40th over and in the same over Miltali was adjudged leg before wicket off Slow left-arm orthodox Inoka Ranaweera.
Middle-order batswomen Harmanpreet Kaur (20) and Veda Krishnamurthy (29) added 50 runs for the sixth wicket before both players were dismissed by pacer S. Weerakkody in the same over.
Lower-order batswomen Sushma Verma (11) and Mansi Joshi (2) struggled in the slog overs, and as a result Sri Lanka managed to keep India below the 250-run mark.
For Sri Lanka, Weerakkody scalped three wickets while Ranaweera took two wickets.