IND-W vs SL-W, Women’s T20 World Cup 2024: Harmanpreet Kaur ups the tempo as India dominate Sri Lanka to boost NRR

India’s Net Run Rate (NRR) got a massive boost after beating Sri Lanka by 82 runs in their third match of ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 Group A at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the UAE on Wednesday.

Staring at an early exit after losing to New Zealand in the opener and a sluggish win against Pakistan, India’s chances were pegged on a massive win to go up the points table.

India duly delivered by posting 172/3 in their 20 overs and dismissing Sri Lanka for 90 runs, taking their NRR from -1.217 to +0.576.

The win helped India climb up to the second spot on the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 points table in Group A, setting up a crucial clash against table-toppers Australia on Saturday.

"We just wanted to score seven-eight runs an over," India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said. "Today a lot of things went according to plan, we were thinking of 160 and we posted 170. You have to think about the net run rate also when you are in this position."

Electing to bat first, Indian openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana were cautious at the start, scoring 30/0 in the first five overs. However, the Indian batters soon shifted gears, reaching 78/0 at the halfway mark.

The 20-year-old Verma also crossed 2,000 T20I runs in the process, becoming the youngest player to reach the milestone.

The 98-run opening partnership was broken in the 13th over when Smriti Mandhana was run out at the non-striker's end.

Chamari Athapaththu sent back Shafali Verma on the very next ball to make it 98/2.

However, Harmanpreet Kaur took charge of the Indian innings with an unbeaten 52 off 27 balls. The Indian cricket captain hit eight fours and a six en route to scoring the fastest 50 by an Indian batter in the Women’s T20 World Cup.

She also became the third player after New Zealand's Suzie Bates and Smriti Mandhana to reach the milestone of 3,500 runs in the women’s T20 cricket.

In response, the Sri Lankan women’s cricket team, who defeated India in the Asia Cup final earlier this year, never looked likely to chase down the highest total of the tournament after they were reduced to 6/3 in three overs.

Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama were all back in the pavilion. Renuka Singh was India’s best bowler in the powerplay, picking up two wickets for just six runs in her first three overs.

Kavisha Dilhari (21 off 22) and Anushka Sanjeewani (20 off 22) steadied the ship with a 37-run partnership but once they both were dismissed, the rest of the Sri Lankan batting lineup did not put up much resistance, folding for 90 in 19.5 overs.

All five bowlers used by India - Renuka Singh (2/16), Shreyanka Patil (1/15), Deepti Sharma (1/16), Arundhati Reddy (3/19) and Asha Sobhana (3/19) were among the wickets.

India’s next match in the T20 World Cup 2024 is against Australia on Sunday, October 13.

IND-W vs SL-W Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 brief scores: India 172/3 in 20 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 52*; Chamari Athapaththu 1/34) beat Sri Lanka 90/10 in 19.5 overs (Kavisha Dilhari 21, Arundhati Reddy 3/19, Asha Sobhana 3/19) by 82 runs.