India serve it to SL

Dambulla, June 23

The Indian bowlers choked the Sri Lankan batters to secure a convincing 34-run victory in the first T20 International here today.

After Jemimah Rodrigues’ 27-ball 36 helped India post a modest 139, left-arm spinner Radha Yadav (2/22) made her presence felt right after the Powerplay by dismissing the dangerous-looking Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu (16) and Harshitha Madavi (10) in three balls.

Reduced to 27/3 inside seven overs, Sri Lanka never managed to get going in the chase, which was further derailed by tight bowling by seamer Pooja Vastrakar in the middle overs en route a tidy spell of 4-1-13-1.

Deepti Sharma gave India a flying start, dismissing opener Vishmi Gunaratne (0) in the second over. The senior off-spinner was at her miserly best in the Powerplay and returned figures of 3-1-9-1 to dent Sri Lanka’s progress early on.