India go 2-up as Sri Lanka succumb to another defeat

Five-match women’s T20I series

Wednesday, 24 December 2025 03:29 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Chamari Athapaththu smokes one out of the park

Player of the Match Shafali Verma celebrates her fifty off 27 balls

India went 2-0 up in the three-match women’s T20I series against Sri Lanka when they won the second game by seven wickets at Visakhapatnam yesterday.

The story in the second T20I followed a similar script to the first. Once again, India’s spinners squeezed Sri Lanka’s middle order before one of their top-order batters made easy work of the chase. Left-arm spinners Vaishnavi Sharma and Shree Charani picked up two wickets apiece after Sneh Rana, in the XI in place of the indisposed Deepti Sharma, sucked out the momentum from Sri Lanka›s batting.

If it was Jemimah Rodrigues› half-century in the first game, Shafali Verma was at her brutal best in the second, finishing an unbeaten 69 in just 34 balls (11 fours, 1 six), to help India get to the 129-run target at a run-rate close to 11 an over with 49 balls to spare.

Sri Lanka were jolted in the opening over after being asked to bat. Vishmi Gunaratne›s uppish drive was caught by Kranti Gaud in her follow-through. Chamari Athapaththu then started the charge. After the defeat in the first game, she asked her batters to step up and find ways of scoring. She was intent on leading from the front. She used her feet against Gaud to slash her in front of point. Two balls later, Gaud almost got back at the Sri Lankan Captain, but Charani, who dropped two simple catches on Sunday, misjudged Athapaththu›s slash and conceded a six.

Athapaththu blazed away with the field restrictions on, scoring 31 off 24 balls (3 fours, 2 sixes) out of Sri Lanka›s 38 in 5.3 overs at that stage. After her dismissal, Hasini Perera and Harshitha Samarawickrama continued to bat with high intent. They primarily scored square of the wicket and added 28 in the three-and-a-half overs after Athapaththu›s dismissal. And then came the squeeze from India.

Sneh Rana, playing her first T20I in India since 2016, her first task was to stop a belligerent Athapaththu, and she delivered. She kept the Sri Lankan captain guessing with flight and dip before dismissing her. With Athapaththu itching to cut loose, Rana generously flighted one. It landed slightly shorter than Athapaththu expected because of the dip, and she ended up miscuing it to long-off.

Rana then returned with Perera and Samarawickrama scoring at a good tempo, bowled a maiden and that turned the tide. It allowed left-arm spinner Charani to slip in a few quiet overs, which resulted in Perera›s dismissal. Vaishnavi also returned to pick up her first international wicket, with Charani taking a simple catch after Nilakshika Silva top-edged a sweep.

Sri Lanka hit 11 boundaries in the first nine overs, but could hit only two fours in the rest of their innings. They lost six for 24 to be restricted to a below-par total for the second game in a row, which was never going to challenge the hosts. Three run-outs for a second game in a row did not help matters either.

The series moves on to Thiruvananthapuram where the remaining three matches will be played starting with the third on 26 December.

Scores: Sri Lanka Women 128-9 (20) (Chamari Athapaththu 31, Hasini Perera 22, Harshitha Samarawickrama 33, Vaishnavi Sharma 2/32, Shree Charani 2/23)

India Women 129-3 (11.5) (Shafali Verma 69*, Jemimah Rodrigues 26)