4th Women’s T20I: Anuja Patil guides India to series win over Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Women 134/5 (Patil 3/36) lost to India Women 137/3 (Patil 54*).

Anuja Patil guided India Women to an unassailable 3-0 lead over Sri Lanka Women in the five-match T20 International series. Patil first took 3 for 36 to help restrict Sri Lanka to 134 for 5 in 17 overs after Harmanpreet Kaur asked them to bat at Colombo Cricket Club Ground following a rain delay. India chased down the target after losing three wickets with eight balls to spare, largely due to an unbroken 96-run stand between Jemimah Rodrigues (52 not out in 37 balls, five fours, two sixes) and Patil (54 not out in 42, seven fours).

Oshadi Ranasinghe provided Sri Lanka with a glimmer of hope, dismissing both Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj in her first over (second of the match). Then Ama Kanchana bowled a horror over, where she sent down four wides and was hit for fours by both Rodrigues and Taniya Bhatia.

Ranasinghe got Bhatia in the next over. Despite the wickets, however, India Women had reached 41 in four overs, and were on track. Rodrigues seemed likelier to reach fifty first (she was 38 when Patil was 19), but Patil exploded in the 14th over, taking Siriwardene for three fours to bring up her fifty in 36 balls. Rodrigues’ fifty came with a six, which was also the winning hit.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka Women 134 for 5 in 17 overs (Shashikala Siriwardene 40; Anuja Patil 3 for 36) lost to India Women 137 for 3 in 15.4 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 52*, Anuja Patil 54*; Oshadi Ranasinghe 3 for 33) by 7 wickets with 8 balls to spare.