IND-W vs SL-W 3rd T20I: Renuka, Deepti, Shafali pummel Sri Lanka to clinch series in emphatic style

India women and Sri Lanka women locked horns in the third T20I at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, December 26. Trailing 2-0 in the series, it was a must-win encounter for the visitors to stay alive.

India completed a hat-trick of coin toss wins in the series and elected to field first once again. The home team made a couple of changes - Renuka Singh and Deepti Sharma replaced Arundhati Reddy and Sneh Rana. The Lankans, in their quest to turn things around, made three changes - Vishmi Gunaratne, Kawya Kavindi, and Shashini Gimhani were replaced by Malsha Snehani, Imesha Dulani, and debutant Nimasha Meepage.

The visitors got off to a flying start as they scored 12 runs from the first over bowled by Renuka Singh. The Indian bowlers made a mini-comeback of sorts to contain the scoring in the next three overs with the hard work paying dividends in the form of the skipper Chamari Athapaththu's wicket in the fifth over. The dangerous left-hander could not get going as she perished for 3(12).

That wicket set off a chain reaction as Sri Lanka lost three more wickets in the next five overs. Hasini Perera (25 off 18), who gave the initial impetus, was Renuka Singh's first victim. Harshitha Samarawickrama (2 off 4) and Nilakshika Silva (4 off 9) failed to get going as the visitors were lacking momentum by the 10th over mark.

Dulani and Kavisha Dilhari started to rebuild and formed a much-needed partnership of 40 runs off 26 balls. Dilhari (20 off 13) was the aggressor of the two, but her wicket with 85 runs on the board sucked out the momentum once again. Dulani followed soon after for 27 runs off 32 balls as Sri Lanka stuttered to 112/7 from their 20 overs.

Renuka Singh was the chief destroyer for India as she finished with figures of 4-1-21-4 and was ably supported by Deepti Sharma (4-0-18-3).

India started the chase aggressively courtesy Shafali Verma who was in her zone. She scored 14 runs off the first over bowled by Malsha Shehani. Smriti Mandhana, who was looking to play the second fiddle in the partnership, failed to score big, getting dismissed for one run off six balls.

Verma was joined by Jemimah Rodrigues and the former continued in the same vein. The 21-year-old spared no bowler as she looked in a hurry to finish the match. The right-hander reached her half-century in just 25 balls and did not relent even afterwards.

Rodrigues, at the other end, supported Verma, playing sensibly as she knew she did not need to take risks. However, a sweep off Dilhari in the eighth over went wrong for her, an underedge rolling onto the stumps. Despite the wicket India were well-placed at 67/2.

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur (21* off 18) and Verma (79* off 42) provided the final boost together as India cruised to victory in the 14th over itself with eight wickets in hand. For Sri Lanka, Dilhari was the only wicket-taker finishing with figures of 3-0-18-2.

With this win, India have clinched the series with two matches still to go. The fourth T20I will be played at the same ground on Sunday, December 28.