2nd T20I: As a bowling unit, we struggled to adapt, says Athapaththu after seven-wicket defeat

Visakhapatnam, Dec 23 Sri Lanka Women skipper Chamari Athapaththu lamented about the batting woes of the visitors despite a good batting surface as they suffered their second straight loss in the five-match series against hosts India at Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA VDCA Cricket Stadium.

Opener Shafali Verma delivered an impressive unbeaten 69 as India Women defeated Sri Lanka by a seven-wicket victory, finishing the match with 49 balls remaining to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20I series.

Choosing to bowl first, India struck quickly and kept Sri Lanka from gaining any momentum. Sri Lanka improved slightly from their 121 in the first T20I. Kranti Gaud continued her good form by taking down Vishmi Gunaratne for 1 in the first over, caught off the follow-through. Although Arundathi Reddy let a few runs slip early on, the Indian bowlers applied enough pressure to keep Sri Lanka from breaking free.

Sri Lanka managed to score 39 runs in the Power-play but faced difficulties, with skipper Chamari Athapaththu as their main contributor. Athapaththu hit two sixes in her 31 off 24 balls before falling to Sneh Rana, the only change in the lineup for the second T20I due to Deepti Sharma's absence because of a fever.

"We had a good Power-play, but unfortunately, we lost 2 wickets, including myself included. India bowled according to their plans. The batters always try to play horizontal shots, which is not their strength. We have to improve. We have to play the middle and death overs well. We need to go for boundaries rather than a rotating strike. As a bowling unit, we struggled to adapt. It's too hard to spin. We need 150+ runs to defend. This wicket is really good for batting. With the dew coming in, it's not easy to bowl. We need runs to play with," Athapaththu said after the match.

Hasini Perera and Harshitha Samarawickrama rebuilt Sri Lanka’s innings by rotating the strike, bringing their score to 66 for 2 at the halfway point. With the field spread, Perera had a hard time picking up the pace and was out for 22 off 28 balls, dismissed by Shree Charani in the 13th over. This ended a 44-run partnership. Harshitha made 33 before getting run out in the 17th over, causing Sri Lanka to lose momentum. They finished at 128 for 9. Shree Charani (2/23) and Vaishnavi Sharma (2/32) were the standout bowlers.

In response, Shafali Verma led India’s chase with an impressive unbeaten 69 off 34 balls. She contributed 29 runs alongside Smriti Mandhana, who scored 14 off 11. Jemimah Rodrigues added 26 off 15 balls. India sped to 113 in the first 10 overs and completed the chase at 129 for 3 in 11.5 overs, with Richa Ghosh hitting the winning run.

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