Follow UsAt 124/6 and a collapse courtesy left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera, the Indian women’s team were off to a disastrous start in the home World Cup opener against Sri Lanka. With all key batters, including skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh, back in the pavilion, the situation looked really dire.
However, that’s when all-rounders Deepti Sharma and Amanjot Kaur combined to not only ensure India reach a respectable total, but also ensure, along with Sneh Rana, that the total is around the par score on this surface.
What shone in the 103-run partnership in 99 deliveries between Deepti and Amanjot, which is India’s second-highest partnership for the 7th wicket or lower, was Amanjot’s intent and how Deepti ensured that all bad balls reached the boundary — something that Pratika Rawal and Harleen Deol couldn't do at the top of the order.
The odd boundaries punctuated the slew of singles and doubles as both Deepti and Amanjot scored at a run a ball or better. Amanjot even went for her shots and, despite getting dropped on multiple occasions, continued to find the boundaries.
Once she was dismissed with only a few overs left, Sneh Rana put on a show with her enterprising batting and smashed two sixes to left-arm seamer Udeshika Prabodhani. She ended with 28* off just 15 deliveries as India finished at 269/8. This was also the most runs scored after a team has lost six wickets, as India added 144 runs post being 124/6. In the process, they broke their own record from the 2022 ODI World Cup opener against Pakistan.
Due to the two rain interruptions before, the target was set at 271 for Sri Lanka after being adjusted through the Duckworth-Lewis method.