Harmanpreet held the Indian innings together.
| Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN
They finally made a match of it, but it still wasn’t enough.
The Sri Lankan women, after being outplayed in the first four outings, tested India with both the bat and ball in the final T20I at the Greenfield Stadium on Tuesday night. The Women in Blue, however, won by 15 runs to complete a 5-0 whitewash.
Chasing India’s 175 for seven, the islanders could only make 160 for seven. Two fine innings had kept them in the chase, but neither Hasini Perera (65, 42b, 8×4, 1×6) nor Imesha Dulani (50, 39b, 8×4) could stay long enough at the wicket.
Their 79-run stand for the second wicket, after the early loss of skipper Chamari Athapaththu, had given the visitor hope. Sadly for Sri Lanka, no other batter made any contribution, as the Indian bowlers came back strongly.
Deepti Sharma’s wicket of Nilakshika Silva was her 152nd and she is now the leading bowler in women’s T20I cricket, going past Australia’s Megan Schutt.
Earlier, captain Harmanpreet’s Kaur’s 68 (43b, 9×4, 1×6) and a late blitzkrieg from Arundhati Reddy (27 not out, 11b, 4×4, 1×6) helped India recover from a shaky start.
The host had a new opening pair, with G. Kamalini making her debut in place of Smriti Mandhana, who was rested. The other opener Shafali Verma has been the leading scorer of the series, but the law of averages caught up with her, after knocks of 69 not out, 79 not out and 79. In the second over, she stepped out to hit Nimasha Meepage over long-on and fell to a tumbling catch by Imesha.
Kamalini, after a couple of promising hits, was trapped in front, trying to sweep Kavisha Dilhari’s first ball.
Harleen Deol then lost her leg stump off Rashmika Sewwandi’s second ball. And India slid to 41 for three in the seventh over.
Richa Ghosh and Deepti didn’t last long either. But in Amanjot Kaur, Harmanpreet found a dependable partner and the two added 61 runs for the sixth wicket.
The Indian captain walked in at 27 for two. Then, half the side was back in the dressing room past the halfway mark of the innings, with just 77 on the board.
But Harmanpreet didn’t seem to bother about what was happening at the other end. She danced down the track against the spinners and never missed an opportunity to show off her hard-hitting skills. Later, Sneh Rana and Arundhati put on 33 for the unbroken eighth wicket. Those runs would prove crucial.
Published – December 30, 2025 11:34 pm IST
