Deepti Sharma impressed with bat and ball as India defeat fellow co-hosts Sri Lanka by 59 runs (Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method) in the rain-affected opening match of the 2025 Women’s Cricket World Cup.
Sharma (53) and Amanjot Kaur (57) shared a seventh-wicket stand of 103 to help India to post 269 for eight during an innings reduced from 50 to 47 overs by wet weather. India had slipped to 124 for six after losing four wickets for four runs in the space of 11 balls in a middle-order collapse.
The spinner Inoka Ranaweera was the pick of Sri Lanka’s bowlers in the Indian city of Guwahati, finishing with figures of four for 46. Ranaweera took the wickets of Harleen Deol (48), Jemimah Rodrigues (0) and the captain Harmanpreet Kaur (21) in the 26th over.
Ranaweera was also responsible for one of four dropped catches in Amanjot’s innings as India dug in. Amanjot was finally caught by Vishmi Gunaratne off the bowling of Udeshika Prabodhani, with the tailender Sneh Rana adding 28 not out.
Sharma then took three wickets for 54, dismissing Sri Lanka’s captain and top scorer Chamari Athapaththu for 43. Her second-wicket stand of 52 with the No 3 Harshitha Samarawickrama (29) had kept the visitors in the game, but Sri Lanka could not continue their progress having reached 103 for two.
Nilakshika Silva (35) was later dismissed by Rana as India bowled out their opponents for 211 in the 46th over, securing victory in front of a crowd of 22,843.
Sharma finished with bowling figures of three for 54, and is now second only to Jhulan Goswami in India’s list of all-time women’s ODI wicket-takers.
“It was not an easy game. We know in tournaments, every game is important and is going to be high pressure,” Kaur said. “The way they [Amanjot and Sharma] handled the situation was outstanding to watch. I’m really happy all the girls came together to win this game for the country.”
“The things that we had planned, we executed it,” said Sharma. “I am used to these types of innings.”
Australia face New Zealand in Wednesday’s game at Indore, with Bangladesh and Pakistan meeting in Colombo on Thursday.
England begin their campaign against South Africa in Guwahati on Friday. Sri Lanka then face Australia and India take on Pakistan in the two teams’ next round-robin group stage matches, with both games taking place in Colombo.
