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Patchy India lose to Sri Lanka by 22 runs

Sri Lanka Women 128 for 8 (Atapattu 43, Yadav 2-20) beat India Women 106 for 9 (Pandey 22, Prabodhani 2-9) by 22 runs
Scorecard

A poor batting performance from India Women saw them lose their opening game of the World Twenty20 against Sri Lanka Women by 22 runs, after their bowlers did well to restrict the opposition to 128.

India lost Smriti Mandhana in the second over and were always struggling for impetus in their innings. Like Sri Lanka, only three of their top six batsmen managed to score at more than a run-a-ball but the difference between the sides was that India's run-scoring in the latter stages of their innings slumped due to wickets. Mithali Raj did not have a great start in her new role at the top of the order, scoring 16 off 23 balls. Jhulan Goswami promoted to No 4 also failed to add any momentum to the innings and by the halfway stage, India were 57 for 3 with the required run rate over 7.

Sri Lanka struck in successive overs between the 16th and 19th, putting an end to any hopes India had of a late flourish. Udeshika Prabodhani was the pick of the bowlers with miserly figures of 2 for 9 in her four overs.

Earlier, India's bowlers did well to stifle partnerships as Sri Lanka were restricted to 128. The most substantial stands of their innings were 29 and 31 for the third and fourth wickets respectively and opener Chamari Atapattu was involved in both. Her 44-ball 43 anchored the early part of Sri Lanka's innings and the side was given a push at the end by Eshani Lokusuriyage, who hit 34 off 29 balls.

IND Women 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st10M RajS Mandhana
2nd23M RajPG Raut
3rd4J GoswamiM Raj
4th18J GoswamiH Kaur
5th19H KaurS Pandey
6th9Soniya DabirS Pandey
7th8A DasS Pandey
8th2KV JainA Das
9th7KV JainPoonam Yadav
10th6KV JainG Sultana