By M. Shamil Amit

An unbeaten half ton by opener Pratika Rawal paved the way for India Women to begin the Women’s Tri-Nation ODI Series with a winning start of a comfortable nine-wicket win over host Sri Lanka Women in the first match of the tournament played at R. Premadasa Stadium.

The match was curtailed to 39 overs due to a late start, with Sri Lanka Women taking first lease of the wicket, being able to muster a score of only 147 runs.

India Women in their run chase was given a sound start of 54 runs by openers Pratika Rawal and Smriti Mandhana. Pratika, joined by Harleen Deol, saw the side through, with the pair putting on an unbroken 95 runs for the second wicket to help them race to the target in the 30th over.

RESULT

At R. Premadasa Stadium – India Women won by nine wickets

• Sri Lanka Women 147 in 38.1 overs (Hasini Perera 30, Kavisha Dilhari 25, Anushka Sanjeewani 22, Achini Kulasuriya 17; Sneh Rana 3/31, Deepti Sharma 2/22, Shree Charani 2/31)
• India Women 149/1 in 29.4 overs (Smriti Mandhana 43, Pratuka Rawal 50 n.o., Harleen Deol 48 n.o.)