IND W vs SL W: India start Women's World Cup with a win, defeating Sri Lanka; Deepti shines in all-round performance

Riding on an all-round performance from Deepti Sharma, the Indian women's team defeated Sri Lanka by 59 runs using the Duckworth-Lewis method in the first match of the ODI World Cup. Batting first, India scored 269 for eight in 47 overs, thanks to half-centuries from Deepti and Amanjot Kaur. In reply, Sri Lanka were all out for 211 in 45.4 overs. Deepti performed brilliantly with the ball, taking three wickets.

Rain disrupted the match.

The match between India and Sri Lanka, played in Guwahati, was interrupted by rain, forcing the match to be stopped twice. Due to rain, the match was reduced to 48 overs each. One more over was then reduced, reducing the target to 47 runs each. The target was revised using DLS, requiring Sri Lanka to score 271 runs. However, Sri Lanka was unable to achieve the target due to a strong performance by the Indian bowlers led by Deepti.

Sri Lanka lost wickets at regular intervals.

The Indian women's team thus started their ODI World Cup campaign with a win. Captain Chamari Atapattu, who scored 43 runs for Sri Lanka, top-scored. Nilakshi de Silva scored 35, Harshitha Samarawickrama 29, and Achini Kulasuriya 17. Sri Lanka started well, but their momentum was disrupted after the first blow, and the Indian bowlers left no opportunity to put Sri Lanka under pressure. For India, Sneh Rana and Shree Charani took two wickets each, while Kranti Goud, Amanjot Kaur, and Pratika Rawal each took one wicket.

Deepti-Amanjot's excellent partnership

Earlier, Sri Lanka won the toss and invited India to bat first. India set a challenging target for Sri Lanka in the Women's ODI World Cup match thanks to half-centuries from Deepti Sharma and Amanjot Kaur. Amanjot top-scored for India with 57, while Deepti made 53. Batting first, India had a poor start, losing Smriti Mandhana early for eight.

India lost three wickets in a single over.

Pratika Rawal then steadied the innings with Harleen Deol, but Pratika's dismissal once again faltered. India lost wickets at regular intervals, reducing the team's score to 124 for six. Inoka Ranaweera dealt the Indian team three blows in a single over. Ranaweera, who came in to bowl the 26th over of India's innings, first dismissed Harleen and then bowled Jemimah on the very next ball. Ranaweera couldn't complete the hat-trick, but two balls later she dismissed Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur. Deepti and Amanjot then took charge for India, forging a century partnership for the seventh wicket. This allowed the Indian team to set a challenging target for Sri Lanka.

For India, apart from Amanjot and Deepti, Harleen scored 48, captain Harmanpreet Kaur 21, Mandhana 8, and Richa Ghosh 2, while Sneh Rana remained unbeaten on 28 off 15 balls, hitting two fours and two sixes. For Sri Lanka, Inoka Ranaweera took four wickets, while Udeshika Prabodhani took two. Chamari Atapattu and Achini Kulasuriya each took one wicket.

Shreya Ghoshal pays tribute to Zubeen.

The 14th Women's World Cup kicked off with a rousing performance by Bollywood singer Shreya Ghoshal at the ACA Barsapara Stadium, where a heartfelt tribute was paid to the late Assamese singer Zubeen Garg. During the halftime of the India-Sri Lanka match, Ghoshal captivated the audience of approximately 25,000 with a 13-minute performance dedicated to Zubeen. She performed Zubeen's popular songs, including the World Cup theme song "Bring It Home." The stadium reverberated with chants of "Jai Zubeen Da," and a large number of fans waved banners to pay tribute to their beloved singer. Zubeen passed away untimely on September 19 in Singapore.