India eye series stranglehold as Sri Lanka search for Urgency in Vizag

The Indian team demonstrated their superiority in terms of bowling and batting and highlighted the widening gulf between Sri Lanka and themselves by winning eight of their last ten matches against them. However, India will need to improve on their poor fielding, whilst Sri Lanka will take confidence from their two-period victories over India, with Captain Chamari Athapaththu contributing 61 and 80.

As before, a lot will be riding on her performance. Nevertheless, Sri Lanka’s top middle-order batters need to step up and support her in addition to her performances. In the first T20I, three batters, Vishmi Gunaratne, Harshitha Samarawickrama, and Hasini Perera, all had the opening signs of intent, but none had a scoring rate of greater than one run per ball. For Sri Lanka to have any chance of challenging India, one or two of those batters need to score significant runs and build a foundation for the innings.

Following the match loss, Athapaththu identified that his team’s total score of 121 was below an acceptable level and agreed that his squad had played defensively. He noted that his players had difficulty building up their development when batting against the conditions of a cold evening before the moisture of dew formed on the grass, but did not push forward with this building process. During this time, India maintained control through their bowlers throughout the middle of the match through excellent delivery and disallowed any momentum building for Sri Lanka.

India’s ability to complete the game as efficiently as possible for the score of 121 and the half-century by Jemimah Rodrigues in just 14.4 overs indicates that there would be no stop to India’s success. Given the forecast conditions before the team travels to Thiruvanthapuram, India, again, it can be expected to dominate the competition, while Sri Lanka has the challenge of finding an urgency in their preparation and the ability to execute.

It is rare for teams to depart from a successful lineup; therefore, it is probable that India will continue to employ all three pace bowlers and all three spin bowlers again.

In contrast, Sri Lanka chose an alternative approach with only two fast bowlers and four spin bowlers during their match against India in the first T20I. Although Shashini Gimhani scored 32 runs during her two-over stint, Sri Lanka will likely keep its current lineup intact for now.