Record Mandhana-Verma stand sees India go 4-0 up

A record partnership between India's openers was the highlight of another dominant performance from the hosts that saw them take a 4-0 lead in the five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka on Sunday (December 28). Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma registered sparkling half-centuries and broke their own record for India's highest partnership in the format. Once they departed, Richa Ghosh came up with a cameo that helped India post their highest total in WT20I cricket, after which the bowlers got the job done despite a spirited effort from the visitors.

Both Mandhana and Verma started in positive fashion in the powerplay with boundaries flowing regularly. Verma then took charge in the second half of the powerplay to race to 37 off just 20 deliveries whereas Mandhana at the other end breached 10000 runs in Women's internationals. Just the fourth to get to the landmark, India's opener also became the quickest to get there. While she slowed down a touch, Verma continued to put Sri Lanka under the pump to eventually bring up her third successive half-century.

Two balls after getting to her fifty, she launched one into the stands and Mandhana then smashed one off her own in the following over enroute to a 35-ball half-century. With India 120/0 after 12 overs, a massive total was always on the cards. Both the batters then toyed with the Sri Lankan attack to find boundaries at will and in the process broke their own partnership record. With five overs left, both the batters had an opportunity to get to three figures.

However, in an anti-climax, the two batters were dismissed in the space of six deliveries. Following the dismissals, Richa Ghosh and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur were tasked with the responsibility of providing a good finish. Ghosh made good use of a dropped catch to absolutely punish the visitors. She went 6,6,4,6 in the penultimate over and Harmanpreet then ensured that the home side breach 220 for the first time in the format.

While many might have expected Sri Lanka to throw in the towel early given the daunting target ahead of them, the visitors gave a good account of themselves. Hasini Perera kickstarted the chase with three boundaries in the opening over and followed it up with two more in the next as Sri Lanka raced to 29/0 after two overs. Chamari Athapaththu then got going with a six and a four off Deepti Sharma which was then followed by two more boundaries from Hasini as the island nation breached 50 inside just 4 overs.

Arundhati Reddy then came back into the attack in the final over of the powerplay to break the partnership and while it did give India temporary relief, Athapaththu pulled Amanjot Kaur for a six and looked in good nick. At the halfway mark, Sri Lanka were 95/1. Carrying their hopes, Athapaththu went past fifty but was soon dismissed by Vaishnavi Sharma. India then pounced on this opportunity to make more inroads. Imesha Dulani got run out and Vaishnavi struck again to get rid of the dangerous Harshitha Samarawickrama. Needing 67 from the final three overs, Sri Lanka were staring at an almost impossible task. They eventually caved in to lose by 30 runs.

Brief scores: India 221/2 (Smriti Mandhana 80, Shafali Verma 79, Richa Ghosh 40*) beat Sri Lanka 191/6 in 20 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 52; Vaishnavi Sharma 2/24) by 30 runs