The Indian women’s cricket team kickstarted its campaign in the Women's World Cup by maintaining their supremacy in the ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier as the squad crushed Sri Lanka by 114 runs.
The team played a consistent game and was backed by solid batting performance. India was ready to bat first, and good batting did the rest. The Indian women hit a total 259 for four. Sri Lankans were hardly coping up and went ahead in the game with just 145 for eight in 50 overs in a Group A match at the P. Sara Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday.
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Indian opener Deepti Sharma (54), Devika Vaidya (who top scored with 89) and veteran skipper Mithali Raj (70) were unbeatable and Sri Lanka paid the price. A well-balanced game started slow with the left-handed pair of Devika and Deepti taking control to score big. The 19-year-old duo together added 123 runs for the second wicket.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka had Hasini Perera (34) and Chamari Athapaththu (30), who made notable scores.
"It's always good to start with a win. We had started slowly in the match but Devika and Deepti put up a useful partnership to help increase the run rate. It was a good pitch to bat on and we enjoyed batting out there," said Mithali, News18 reports.
Now the Indian women will face off Thailand at the Colombo Cricket Club Ground on Wednesday.
India ranked fifth in Group A, challenging Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Thailand.
Only top three teams qualified from Group A and Group B will play next at the Super Six stage. From there, the top four will progress to the eight-team line-up for the ICC Women's World Cup 2017. The final is scheduled to be held on February 21.
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Feature Image Credit: ICC
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