Women’s T20 World Cup: India pile up World Cup high to rout Sri Lanka

India’s women’s cricket team boosted their chances of reaching the semi-finals of the Women’s T20 World Cup by defeating Sri Lanka by 82 runs on Wednesday.

India scored a tournament-best 172-3 in their 20 overs. In response, Sri Lanka was bowled out for 90, just before the end of the match.

With this win, India now has two victories in three games and will face Australia, the six-time champions, in their final group match on Sunday. Only the top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.

Smriti Mandhana hit 50 runs from 38 balls, which included four boundaries and a six. This was her 27th half-century in T20 internationals. She also formed a strong 98-run opening partnership with Shafali Verma, who scored 43.

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur impressed with her batting as well, scoring 52 from 27 balls, hitting eight boundaries and one six. This was her 13th T20 international half-century. Despite a neck injury suffered in the previous game against Pakistan, Kaur looked in great form.

Sri Lanka struggled early on in their chase, losing three wickets for just six runs in the first three overs. Kavisha Dilhari (21) and Anushka Sanjeewani (20) added 37 runs together, but the team could not keep up with the required run rate. Ama Kanchana (19) was the only other Sri Lankan player to reach double digits.

For India, fast bowler Arundhati Reddy and leg-spinner Asha Sobhana both took 3 wickets for 19 runs in their four overs.

This defeat ended Sri Lanka’s chances of reaching the semi-finals after three losses in the tournament.