If you are Smriti Mandhana, scores of 43, 36, 18, and 51 over four One-Day International knocks in a series is a below-par return. Since June 2024, before the start of the Women’s Tri-Series in Colombo a fortnight ago, Smriti averaged 64.5 over 15 ODIs, scoring just 23 short of a 1,000 runs with five centuries.
And so, in the build-up to the final against Sri Lanka, it felt like the star Indian opener was yet to truly deliver in a tournament where the scores were generally quite high.
All that changed on Sunday, as Smriti smashed her 11th ODI century against the hosts. Her 101-ball 116, studded with 15 fours and two sixes, powered India to a mammoth 342/7, which proved to be 97 runs too many for Chamari Athapaththu’s Sri Lanka. The islanders kept themselves somewhat in the contest as long as the skipper was around, but a flurry of wickets from 173/3 to 192/7 all but ended any slim chances they had.
India’s bowling effort was led by Sneh Rana (4/38), while Amanjot Kaur (3/54) did her all-round reputation no harm – both had a series to remember on their return to India colours after a break.
Smriti has made it a habit in recent times to convert starts into big scores, but she has also started forming a frustrating habit of giving her wicket away. Just in this series, she had been out caught down the legside, pulled a short ball straight to the fielder at deep midwicket, and also got run out after a mix-up with Pratika Rawal. On each of those occasions, her form and touch seemed to be in place, but unforced errors cost her.
It could have been somewhat similar in the final too, but she was given a reprieve on 21. It wasn’t perhaps a mistake because Sri Lanka seemed to have a plan to tempt Smriti to go over mid-off. Inoka Ranaweera, a wily old veteran, got her to play the shot she wanted but Piumi Wathsala put down a simple catch, in a moment that had a significant impact on the game.
India were just out of a middling Powerplay, reaching 45/0 after 10 overs, and a wicket at that point – especially Smriti’s – could have easily shaved off a significant chunk off India’s eventual total.
Smriti made the most of it. Even before the reprieve, she had hit a couple of exquisite fours and a six over long-off. A six off Athapaththu at the start of the 18th over, when she cleared the front foot and launched one dead straight, was a clear sign that she was dialled in for the big haul on another hot and humid day in Colombo.
As she reached her 70s, her strike rate started venturing close to 100, and she brought up her century with a hat-trick of boundaries off Athapaththu, and then hit a fourth straight four after completing her celebration. Smriti’s biggest impediment towards that three-figure milestone was the humidity that has challenged players from all three teams, with the Indian opener needing frequent treatment and hydration for cramping.
But her constant shifting of the gears helped India score 207/3 in the middle overs (between 11 and 40) even as Harleen Deol took her time before somewhat catching up during a 120-run partnership that nearly batted Sri Lanka out of the match. Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues then played crucial, better-than-run-a-ball 40s to take India to what was the highest women’s ODI total posted in Sri Lanka.
The hosts were always going to struggle because of the lack of firepower in their batting unit, even if they have improved in recent times in managing to find ways to put together partnerships. Amanjot’s stump-to-stump strategy accounted for the first two wickets while Rana, who finished with 15 wickets in the tournament and picked up the player of the series award, was once again India’s most potent spin threat. Harmanpreet was left pleased with the fight shown by her side throughout the tournament, but did point out that some of India’s front-line pacers’ struggles with injuries in recent times are a cause of concern.
Brief scores: India 342/7 (Mandhana 116; Sugandika Kumari 2/59) beat Sri Lanka 245 in 48.2 overs (Athapaththu 51; Rana 4/38) by 97 runs
