SL vs Ind: Renuka, Deepti restrict Sri Lanka at 171 in first ODI

PALLEKELE: Fiery knocks by Hasini Perera (37) and Nilakshi de Silva (46) went in vain as brilliant bowling by Renuka Singh and Deepti Sharma restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 171 in 50 overs in the first ODI of the three-match series here at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele on Friday. For Sri Lanka, Hasini Perera and Nilakshi de Silva were the highest scorers. For India, Renuka Singh and Deepti Sharma bagged three wickets respectively while Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Pooja Vastrakar settled for one wicket each.

Opted to bat first, Sri Lanka got off a shaky start. Skipper Chamari Athapaththu was sent back to the pavilion after scoring just two runs. India offered a good mix of spin with Deepti Sharma and pace with Renuka Singh but it bore fruit as the spinner dismissed Hansima Karunaratne in the 6.6 overs.

After the skipper's wicket Sri Lanka batters struggled to cement their place on the crease as tight bowling from Indian bowlers restricted them to play big shots. With the loss of five wickets, SL crossed the 100-run mark in the 28 over. Harshitha Samarawickrama and Nilakshi de Silva kept going with some solid strike rotation. Pooja Vastrakar provided her team with a wicket, dismissing Samarawickrama for a well-made 28.

Nilakshi de Silva was in red-hot form as she kept hitting Indian bowlers all around teh ground but her reign on the ground was ended as Renuka Singh dismissed her, scoring 46 runs in 63 balls. With the seven wickets down Sri Lanka's score read 145-7 in 42 overs. Oshadi Ranasinghe and Rashmi Silva somehow tried to anchor the partnership to take their team to a modest total.

Singh struck against in the 44th over to totally dismantled Sri Lanka's team, dismissing Oshadi Ranasinghe for eight runs. Inoka Ranaweera then came to bat for the hosts. but the latter could not stand long as she was dismissed by Vastrakar. In the very next over Sharma delivered another blow to Sri Lanka as she removed Rashmi de Silva to restrict the hosts' inning to 171 all out.

Brief score: Sri Lanka 171 ( Hasini Perera 37, Nilakshi de Silva 46; Renuka Singh 3-29) vs India.