Women’s World Cup, as it happened: India remain unbeaten with 16-run win over Lankans

High on confidence with three wins on the trot, India set out to continue their unbeaten streak and take another step towards a semi-final berth, which they managed with a few hiccups. Here’s how the game unfolded.

Live updates:

India win by 16 runs and remain unbeaten in the World Cup! Player of the match is Deepti Sharma.

India drop down to second in the table, only because of Australia’s big win over South Africa.

It proved to be a tricky task with a late flourish by the Lankans. There were some lapses in the field that will concern Mithali Raj, but like Ian Bishop says, in the end, India did enough. At the end of the day, two points is all that matter.

Wicket! Manodara’s fighting vigil comes to an end! Deepti Sharma gets her first wicket of the match in her ninth over as Dilani Manodara’ falls after a 75-ball 61. She comes down the track and swings but misses it completely and is way out of her crease. The ball goes to the keeper and Sushma Verma makes no error is breaking the stumps to get her second stumping of the match. Sri Lanka 191/7.

Fifty for Mandodara! The veteran wicketkeeper-batter is single-handedly keeping Sri Lanka afloat and has now completed a fighting half-century off 67 balls – only her second fifty in ODIs.

Wicket! Ekta Bisht takes her first wicket as Weerakkody walks back on 12 off 9. The Sri Lankans were trying to mount a late assault with Manodara and Weeakkody putting together 28 runs in 20 balls. She tried to similarly charge at Bisht, coming down the track for a big shot but it went straight to Veda Krishnamurthy at cover and the sixth wicket falls, Sri Lanka 171/6

Wicket, A run out this time! Ama Kanchana is caught short of her ground after Manodara sends her back and Harmanpreet takes the bails off just in time. That’s half the team back with a required rate touching 10. Weerakkody is the next batter in.

End of Over 40, Sri Lanka 138/4: 40 runs in the Batting Powerplay, a welcome change in the scoring rate. Jhulan Goswami was brought back in the Powerplay but her over went for 10 runs as Siriwardene got into the groove, taking Bisht for 11 runs in the next. In the process, the former Sri Lanka captain and Manodara brought up their 50-run partnership off 87 balls as well. However, as is almost always the case, the Batting Powerplay brings a wicket as well – that of the experienced Siriwardene. The required rate is still over nine though, so the very good Powerplay won’t help unless they continue in the same vein.

Wicket! Big wicket for India as Siriwardene departs! Goswami breaks the 60-run partnership just as it had gathered steam. She goes for the lofted shot but doesn’t get the distance and a brilliant, running catch by Veda Krishnamurthy ends her 63-ball 37 at the crease.

End of Over 35, Sri Lanka 98/3: Deepti Sharma replaces Kaur and starts off with a maiden as the Indian spinners continue their tight bowling. Poonam Yadav finishes her spell with 2/23 – a potentially game-changing one that dismissed set batters Athapaththu and Hansika. With the required rat reaching 8 and the Batting Powerplay coming up, Sri Lanka will have to do something out of the ordinary here.

End of Over 30, Sri Lanka 82/3: The Indian spinners have done what they do best – tighten the screws on Sri lanka’s chase by drying up the runs and piling on the pressure. The required run rate is almost eight , even though only three wickets have fallen. Yadav and Harmanpreet bowling in tandem now, and have given away only nine runs in the last five overs.

Wicket! Sushma Verma has stumped Nipuni Hansika! Poonam Yadav strikes again! The leg-spinner flighted the ball and Hansika came forward, went down on her knee to attempt a sweep; but the ball goes straight to the keeper, and as has been her track record this World Cup, Verma doesn’t make an error breaking the stumps. Sri Lanka 7/3, Dilani Manodara is in next as the set batter walks back on 29 off 66.

End of Over 20, Sri Lanka 61/2: An odd game of musical chairs among the Indian spinners – Poonam Yadav replaces Deepti Sharma in the 16th over and conceded five runs. Bisht is then brought back after only one over by Harmanpreet Kaur. But whatever it was, it seems to have worked as Yadav gets Athapaththu in the next over and the scoring rate pipes down at once.

Wicket! Poonam Yadav gets the dangerous Athapaththu with a special strike! The ball stayed low and straight as an arrow, going through the left-hander to take a single bail off. What a manner to get the big, big wicket! Hearty celebrations from India, they know what this means. Sri Lanka 57/2. Shashikala Siriwardene is in next and

End of Over 15 Overs, Sri lanka 48/1: Goswami bowls a maiden next but is replaced by last match’s star performer Ekta Bisht as India go with spin from both ends. Athapaththu hoicks Bisht’s first ball for a four and her first over goes for six runs. Interestingly, the two left-handers on crease look to attack the left-arm spinner, and she is promptly replaced after the one over. Sharma, from the other end, also goes for six runs. This prompts another curious change from Raj, as Harmanpreet Kaur comes into bowl in the 15th over and gives away only four, but regular boundaries means Sri Lanka are 48/1 after India as opposed to India 49/1.

End of Over 10, Sri Lanka 29/1: Sri Lanka manage 29 in ther Powerplay, for the loss of a wicket. Athapaththu, the record-breaker against Australia, has been relatively sedate with 3 off 14 so far. Raj introduced spin in the eight over with Deepti Sharma replacing Mansi Joshi and immediately started with a maiden, and followed it with another. Dot ball pressure is crucial is small changes and India doing well at that so far.

All-rounder Deepti Sharma has already top-scored with 78 for India, and will be decisive with the ball for India as well as spin has ruled all the matches in Derby so far.

After the fairly cpmprehesnive 95-run against Pakistan, former India captain Mamatha Maben told The Field, that Sri Lanka could be more of a challenge than Pakistan. Will that prove to be true? Sri Lanka need to chase 233 for a win.

End of Over 5, Sri Lanka 17/1: Sri Lanka start strongly with five runs coming off the first over, with Perera hitting Goswami for a boundary. Manasi Joshi, sharing the new ball, sent her first one in nice and straight and looked to have caught Perera plumb. Replays showed it to be out with all three signs on ball tracking were red, but for some reason, India did not appeal at all! Sri Lanka score three more runs in that over and the next over by Goswami goes for only two runs. The first wicket falls in the fifth over and Sri Lanka finish with 17/1 in the first five overs.

Wicket! India get their first wicket! Jhulam Goswami gets the first breakthrough as Hasini Perera, trying to play across the line and take the aerial route once again. But she doesn’t quite get the elevation and it goes straight near mid-on. Smriti Mandhana lets the catch go on first try but juggles to pouch it on the second attempt and Sri Lanka are down to 17/1 in the chase of 232. Chamari Athapaththu is in next.

Did you know? he only time Sri Lanka beat India in an ODI came in the 2013 World Cup which India had hosted.

End of innings: India finish with 232/8 – not a bad score to defend at Derby. India will be pleased by the score; thanks in part to the Raj and Sharma’s slow and steady partnership and in part to the late flourish by Harmanpreet and Veda.

Harmanpreet and Veda upped the pace of scoring in the last overs, with 62 runs coming off the last 10 overs. Their 50-run partnership came up in only 52. Veda, who is playing her first game in the World Cup, has made her mark already with her crucial contribution. She has played an impressive range of shots all round to score 29. However, both of them fell towards the end, or India could possibly have reached an even higher target.

For now, the onus will be on the bowlers – especially the spinners – to defend the target. Join us in a bit for the second innings.

Wicket! Mansi Joshi is run out! This is the last over and they need quick runs. She comes through for the second but as the bowler Gunaratne takes the throw, turns around and hits the stumps. 230/8

Wicket! Two in two Weerakkody! Veda departs on the next ball as she tries to slice but it goes straight to point as Gunaratne holds to the catch. She is dismissed after an excellent 33-ball 29 and with that India’s late flourish comes to an end.

Wicket! Harmanpreet falls on 20 off 22: India accelerate their scoring rate, and Sri Lanka finally hold on to a catch as Harmanpreet Kaur walks back after a late flourish. She tried to take on the bowler and comes down the tracj to go big but finds the fielder at the boundary. Weerakkody gets her second wicket of the match as Ranasinghe takes a nice catch.

End of Over 45, India 192/5: The pace of scoring has definitely come down for India after the dismissal of set batters Sharma and Raj. But the 45 over from Kanchana made up for the slow start with 10 runs coming off it – with sharp running between the wickets and snazzy scoop by Veda for a boundary off the last ball. 22 runs come of the last five overs and India will need a couple of overs like the last one to get to a comfortable total at the end of the innings.

That was an interesting Powerplay. First Mithali Raj got to her 50 in 71 balls – her 48th ODI half-century. The India captain has accelerated strongly after taking 15 balls to get her first run. Then Deepti Sharma fell after trying to play more attacking shots. Goswami was sent in next, ahead of the fulltime batters Harmanpreet and Veda. Goswami then tried to take the aerial route, but fortunately for India, she was dropped and the ball raced to the boundary. But the next time, Sri Lanka wasn’t so sloppy as she was dismissed. Raj was then dismissed off the very next ball – caught plumb by Ranaweera. India made 29 runs in the five overs, but lost three wickets in the process.

Wicket! Captain Mithali Raj is out! This is a big wicket for Sri Lanka as their captain gets her Indian counterpart for her second wicket in two balls. She pitches this full and it traps Raj plumb in the middle. She departs after a well made 53 off 78 as India are five done with 170 on board.

Wicket, Goswami goes for 9! The Goswami gamble didn’t work for India as she departs after only 9 balls, playing a shot similar to the one that she was just dropped on. This time, Chamari Athapaththu latches on giving Ranaweera her first wicket, India 169/4.

Wicket! Sharma goes on 78: Deepti Sharma was looking set to exploit the Powerplay to the fullest after a couple of cleanly hit boundaries, but another lofted shot went straight to Ranaweera at mid-off. Ama Kanchana gets her first wicket as India’s top-scorer so far goes after a vital 78 off 110 – an innings that first stablised and then helped India accelerate. Interestingly, Jhulan Goswami comes in next, ahead of Harmanprett Kaur and Veda Krishnamurthy. India 162/3.

End of Over 35, India 141/2: The last five overs have been fruitful for India as they have piled on runs at good pace at a run rate of almost six. Sharma and Raj also bring up their 100-run partnership in 141 balls, much faster than the first fifty as they accelerate.
Sri Lanka have tried pace as Ama Kanchana replaced Gunaratne but not to much effect, as the Indians continue building a steady score with a healthy run rate. With the Batting Powerplay coming up, Sharma and Raj have set a nice platform for India to score big in the next five.

End of Over 30, 112/2: A good chunk of play for India in the last five overs with 24 runs coming off it. Deepti Sharma brings up her half-century off 89 balls – her sixth in ODIS – as she and Raj take India past 100. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka mix up their bowling combinations with Ranaweera replacing Siriwardene and Gunaratne coming back to replace Ranasinghe, but the runs keep coming.

End of Over 25, India 88/2: Mitahli continues attacking Ranaweera with a four off her first ball of the 21st over – a shot similar to the one she played in the Sri Lankan captain’s previous over. Six runs off that over again, and she replaces herself with off-break bowler Oshadhi Ranasinghe in the next over, who goes for nine runs with boundaries from both Raj and Sharma. The two are slowly getting into a rhythm and the scoring rate is climbing as a result. The two bring up their 50-run partnership in 86 deliveries – a crucial stand for India. On the other end, Siriwardene continues her tidy spell, having given away only eight runs in her six overs so far.

End of Over 20, India 63/2: Weerakkody’s extended eight-over spell comes to an end as captain Inoka Ranaweera Sharma comes in to bowl. Sharma decided to attack her from the outset as she down the pitch to the left arm spinner and lofts it for a sweetly-timed boundary on the third ball. Mithali Raj, on the other hand, is taking things cautious; she took 15 balls to get off the mark. But in the 19th over, the Indian captain played a decisive shot through to take the Sri Lankan captain for six runs – a much needed change of pace after the Sri Lankan spin duo kept a tight hold on the scoring rate. But a maiden over by Siriwardene next means only 14 runs in the last five overs.

The next ten overs of play will be crucial to decide the tone of the match, and a lot will depend on how the two captains play their primary role in the middle.

End of Over 15, India 49/2: Tight five overs from Sri Lanka after the fall of Raut, including a maiden from Weerakkody as India manage 11 runs after the end of Powerplay. But left-hander Sharma shows a glimpse of attack with a nice flick for a boundary to get five runs from the 15th over. India will need a lot more of those in this innings.

Wicket! Both Indian openers are back in the hut! Sri Lanka’s attacking fields are paying off as another close in fielder snaps a sharp catch. Raut tries to drive Weerakkody but the ball travels straight to Chamari Athapaththu at short cover. Raut has to walk back on 16 off 29 and captain Mithali Raj walks out with India in a bit of a trouble. India 38/2

End of the Powerplay, India 37/1: A wicket maiden in the sixth over is followed by couple of seven run overs as Raut continues her steady batting, much like the match against Pakistan where she scored 47 off 72. Sharma gets into the act in the next over, dispatching a full toss from Gunaratne for a commanding boundary. She is dropped by the keeper and slip soon after, with a misjusged drive being edged out. However, Weerakkody and Gunaratne bowl tight overs next giving away only a single run each. India end the Powerplay with 37 runs and the loss of one wicket.

The world record pair look like they are aiming to make the most of the field restrictions and not let the fall off the aggressive Mandhana impact India’s the scoring rate early on. But Sri Lanka’s close fielding and attacking close field placements don’t make it easy. Ranaweera has been very smart with her fielders today and Sri Lanka are looking very keen on the field as well.

Wicket! Mandhana departs on 8! An excellent catch by Shashikala Siriwardene at short mid-wicket gives Sri Lanka the first breakthrough – that of the in-form Smriti Mandhana. Gunaratne strikes on the first ball of the the sixth over, the left-armer picthes it in and the left-hander goes for a shot but ends up chipping it straight to the fielder who completes a sharp catch to her right. India 21/1. Deepti Sharma is in next.

End of Over 5, India 20/0: Weerakkody started with a maiden over as a watchful Raut played out the good lenghth bowled by the pacer.
Left armer spinner Chandima Gunaratne shared the new ball and Mandhana got off the amr right away. There was a loud appeal for a knick behind on the third ball but the umpire turned it down and Sri lanka didn’t review as four runs came off that over.
Weerakkody came over the wicket to Mandhana next and on the fourth ball, the left-hander drove it stylishly through the gap for the first Four of the match – high backlift, angled bat and a masterful stroke to the boundary.
Raut joins the party in the next over with a crisp drive through the covers for Four as six runs came in the fourth over off the spinner.
Raut edged one and it misses the keepr, going for Four as seven runs comes off the over to give India a good start in the first five.

National anthems done, it’s time for India’s fourth match to begin! Smriti Mandhana and Punam Raut with the bat for table toppers India, Sripali Weerakkody with the new ball for Sri lanka. Let’s go!

2:50 pm: After Ekta Bisht’s match-winning performance, we spoke to former India captain and the proud-owner of the record for the best bowling figures for an Indian – Mamatha Maben. This is what she had to say:

2:48 pm: India have made one change to the lineup, with Veda Krishnamurthy coming in for Mona Mesharam.

2:35 pm: Mithali Raj has won the toss and India will bat first. 250 is a good score she reckons.

2:25 pm: Hello and welcome to our live blog of India’s fourth match at the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017. Unbeaten in three matches, the women in blue take on, well, another team in blue – neighbours Sri Lanka await Mithali Raj & Co.