Women’s ODI World Cup | Deepti, Amanjot and Sneh shine as Women in Blue make a winning start

They came dreaming big, riding high on confidence. But midway through their innings, the Women in Blue were living a nightmare.

Four wickets tumbled within a space of a couple of overs. Sri Lanka was threatening a coup.

The Indians, however, fought back. Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur and Sneh Rana ensured the main host would have enough runs on the board to deny the co-host of an unlikely victory in the opening match of the women’s ODI World Cup.

After posting 269 for eight from 47 overs — rain claimed three overs — India bowled Sri Lanka out for 211, to win by 59 runs (DLS method) at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. For Harmanpreet Kaur’s women, it was a significant victory in more ways than one.

They won despite the rare failure of their main batter, Smriti Mandhana, and they showed they have the kind of depth in batting that is required in a campaign as long as the World Cup. The bowling clicked, too.

For the Lankans to pose a serious challenge, their captain Chamari Athapaththu (43, 47b, 4×4, 3×6) needed to play a long innings. She was looking good too, until she was yorked by Deepti.

India’s off-spinning all-rounder will remember this game with fondness. The grit she showed with the bat was admirable.

Deepti (53, 53b, 3×4) added 103 for the seventh wicket with Amanjot (57, 56b, 5×4, 1×6) and 42 for the eighth with Sneh (28 n.o., 15b, 2×4, 2×6).

It was the maiden ODI fifty for Amanjot. She could not have timed it better, and that too on her World Cup debut.

She batted with confidence, kept the scoreboard ticking, and showed why the team management was so keen for her to rejoin the squad after recovering from injury (she had missed the recent series against Australia).

Amanjot was dropped a few times, but she deserved her luck.

It took a stunning catch to end her innings, as Vishmi Gunaratne timed her dive to perfection near the deep mid-wicket boundary.

Earlier, Inoka Ranaweera took three wickets in an over to make the Indian dressing room nervous. But Deepti, Amanjot and Sneh calmed those nerves.