Thiruvananthapuram: Captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s magnificent half-century led India to a narrow 15-run win over Sri Lanka in the fifth WT20I at the Greenfield International Stadium on Tuesday.
With this victory, India completed a 5-0 clean sweep of Sri Lanka and cemented their dominance on home soil.
Batting first in the final match of the series, with captain Kaur leading the way, they posted a mammoth total of 175/7 in the allotted 20 overs.
The right-handed batsman oversaw India’s batting charge after coming out to bat in the fifth over and held firm until he fell to Kavisha Dilhari in the 18th over.
He scored a 43-ball 68 with 10 fours, including a six, which earned him the Man of the Match award.
Apart from Kaur, all-rounder Arundhati Reddy and lower-order batsman Arundhati Reddy made key contributions with 21 and 27 runs respectively.
On the Sri Lankan side, captain Samari Atapathu, Rashmika Sevwanthi and Dilhari took 2 wickets each and Nimasha Meepage took one wicket.
Chasing a tough target of 176 runs, Sri Lanka managed to amass 160/7 in the allotted overs despite half-centuries from top-order batsmen Hasini Perera and Imesha Dhulani.
Perera remained the top scorer with 65 off 42 balls with 8 fours and a six, while Dhulani scored 50 off 39 balls with 8 fours.
The two shared a 79-run partnership for the second wicket to keep Sri Lanka in the hunt. However, failure of their middle order prevented them from accumulating the target in the end.
Apart from the top-order duo, only Chevanti, who scored an unbeaten 14 off eight balls, scored double figures against the Indian bowling attack.
On the Indian side, Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Shine Rana, Vaishnavi Sharma, Sri Sarani and Amanjot Kaur took one wicket each.