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India Women produced their most complete performance of the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup in the all-important Group A clash against Sri Lanka in Dubai on Wednesday, October 9. Harmanpreet Kaur's team avenged their surprising defeat to the Lankans in the recent Asia Cup final to keep their semi-final qualification hopes alive.
India piled up a massive 172/3 in their 20 overs (the highest team score of the tournament) and bowled Sri Lanka out for a mere 90 to complete an impressive 82-run victory. It was their second consecutive win after the shocking loss to New Zealand in the opener.
The result took India to four points with two wins in three games and a solid net run rate of +0.576. Currently, in second place, the Asian giants still have work to do for a top-two finish with their final group-stage game against the three-time defending champions Australia on Sunday, October 13.
While they could still qualify for the final four with a loss, leaving their fate at the hands of other permutations could be detrimental.
Back to the Sri Lanka victory, India had plenty of positives individually and collectively to carry forward to the virtual quarterfinal against the Aussies.
Here, we look at the three major takeaways from India's demolition of Sri Lanka in a critical Group A clash of the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup.
#1 Harmanpreet Kaur's timely return to form
There isn't a bigger positive for Indian fans than skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's return to form with the bat. With only the lone half-century in 12 T20I innings this year, the 35-year-old was under immense pressure.
However, she continued the momentum built by the two openers, who added 98 runs for the opening wicket. Harmanpreet came in at No. 3 and blasted a 27-ball half-century (the fastest by an Indian batter in Women's T20 World Cup history) to help India post a formidable total of over 170.
Lest we forget, it was her 34-ball 52 in the semi-final of the 2023 edition against Australia that had India within touching distance of reaching the final before the untimely run-out.
India will be desperate for their skipper to produce a similar effort on Sunday to have any chance of upstaging the Aussies and possibly go on to win their first-ever World Cup title.
#2 An all-round complete bowling performance
Not often does every bowler who grabs the white cherry make an impact in a T20I game. Yet, Team India enjoyed one such evening as all five bowlers picked up at least a wicket for a second consecutive outing.
Pacer Arundathi Reddy produced a second consecutive three-wicket haul with figures of 3/19 in 4 overs, becoming only the fourth Indian to achieve the feat in T20 World Cup history.
Asha Sobhana bamboozled the Lankan batters with three wickets to help India pull off their biggest margin of victory in T20 World Cups. Pace spearhead Renuka Singh set the tone with two wickets in the powerplay, finishing with outstanding figures of 2/16 in 4 overs.
Shreyanka Patil and Deepti Sharma chipped in with a wicket each, with the former bagging the massive scalp of Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu.
India will hope for a hat-trick of all-round dominance in their next outing against the world champions Australia.
#3 Remarkable turnaround in the field
India's biggest worry in the first two games against New Zealand and Pakistan was their shambolic fielding. In T20 cricket, where the outcome is often decided by a matter of a few runs, the Women in Blue had to get their act together on the field and they did just that in the Sri Lanka clash.
The tone was set by a stunner from substitute fielder Radha Yadav in the second ball of the Lankan run-chase. Sprinting from the backward point region, Radha lunged forward to pluck out a one-handed grab while ensuring the ball did not pop out, much to the delight of her teammates.
A safe Richa Ghosh from behind the stumps then completed an excellent catch and stumping before the moment of the day arrived.
Not renowned for her fielding prowess, pacer Renuka Singh at short fine-leg went back and circled around the ball before pulling off a sensational catch with a dive to dismiss Sri Lanka's top-scorer Kavisha Dilhari for 21.
It had even the bowler Arundhati Reddy in surprise and the coaches in the dressing room all smiles.
Apart from the brilliant catches, India's overall fielding was safe as houses - a complete contrast from their shoddy effort in the first two matches of the tournament.
