Openers in focus as India look to seal series against Sri Lanka in 2nd ODI

The Indian women's cricket team would look for some stability from its top-order, especially openers, as the visitors aim to seal the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka in the second game on Monday.

After clinching the preceding T20 series 2-1, India have taken a 1-0 lead in the ODI series by winning the low-scoring first match by four wickets with 72 balls to spare.

Despite the comfortable win, the Indian think tank would be a little concerned about the opening pair of vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and young Shafali Verma.

The duo have failed to lay a solid foundation for the team at the top of the order in the last couple of innings and will look to make amends heading into this crucial clash. 

There ain't any doubt that they are due for a big score and will be itching to make their mark in the second game. 

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, on the other hand, seems to be relishing her role, scoring runs and providing breakthroughs with her part-time off-spin.

The Indian bowlers, especially the slower ones, are simply enjoying the low and slow Sri Lankan tracks and have played a crucial role in the team's victories on tour.

Right-arm medium pacer Renuka Singh excelled with figures of 3 for 29; however, it was Deepti Sharma's (3/25) off-breaks that broke Sri Lanka's backbone and restricted the hosts to 171 all out in the first ODI.

While the Indian bowlers have excelled on this tour, the batters have been plagued by inconsistencies.

With the likes of Deepti Sharma, Harmanpreet and Harleen Deol in the middle order, the team would expect them to rotate the strike in the middle overs and guide the team through in challenging situations. 

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, would hope skipper Chamari Athapaththu can inspire the side with the bat after a relatively poor show so far.

The likes of opener Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama and Nilakshi de Silva have batted well but need to stitch partnerships.

On the bowling front, left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera has shone bright but will need more support from her colleagues.

Sri Lanka lost the ODI series against Pakistan last month and would look to avoid a second consecutive series loss in the format.

Squads:

India: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), S Meghana, Deepti Sharma, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Simran Bahadur, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol.

Sri Lanka: Chamari Athapaththu (Captain), Nilakshi de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Vishmi Gunaratne, Ama Kanchana, Hansima Karunaratne, Achini Kulasuriya, Sugandika Kumari, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Hasini Perera, Udeshika Prabodhani, Oshadi Ranasinghe Inoka Ranaweera, Sathya Sandeepani, Anushka Sanjeewani, Malsha Shehani, Tharika Sewwandi.

(With inputs from PTI)