India players and staff celebrate with the trophy after winning the series against Sri Lanka at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, India, on 30 December 2025 (CREIMAS for BCCI)India Women (IND-W) vs Sri Lanka Women (SL-W) 5th T20I Highlights: India defeated Sri Lanka by 15 runs in the 5th and final T20I and completed a series whitewash of 5-0 with Hasini Perera and Imesha Dulani’s half centuries going in vain. India used 6 bowlers and all of them took a wicket each in what was a disciplined bowling effort.
After being reduced to 77/5 in the 11th over, Harmanpreet Kaur led the recovery with a fine 68 and was aided by contrasting cameos from Amanjot Kaur and Arundhati Reddy as India posted 175/7 in the fifth of the five-match T20I series at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.
Earlier Chamari Athapaththu’s Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bowl first against Harmanpreet Kaur’s India. Both teams have made 2 changes each with Smriti Mandhana and Renuka Singh Thakur being rested and G Kamalini, who is set for her debut, and Sneh Rana replacing them. For Sri Lanka, Inoka Ranaweera and Malki Madara came back to the side for Malsha Shehani and Kawya Kavindi.
India: Shafali Verma, G Kamalini, Richa Ghosh(w), Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Arundhati Reddy, Vaishnavi Sharma, Shree Charani
Sri Lanka: Hasini Perera, Chamari Athapaththu(c), Imesha Dulani, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshika Silva, Rashmika Sewwandi, Kaushani Nuthyangana(w), Nimasha Madushani, Inoka Ranaweera, Malki Madara
Last over. SL Need 25 from 6 and Sneh Rana to bowl this one. Just 3 from the first 3 deliveries. And that's the game there for India. 22 from 3. A swing and a miss takes it down to 22 from 2. Rashmika with a boundary now and the last ball yields 2. India win by 15 runs and clean sweep the series!!
Sree Charai to bowl the penultimate over of the match and yiels 4 runs from the first 3 deliveries as she keeps the batters on a leash. But Rashmika slams a four to relieve some pressure. Still a long way to go though.
SL need 44 from 18 now and Rana tow bowl. And that has missed everyone for 4 byes!! Samarawickrama goes over the in-field next and Charani saves near the rope to keep it down to 3. Kaushini with a big shot next but it's just a single. AAND THAT'S ANOTHER DOWN AS KAUSHINI HAS TO DEPART OFF A RUN OUT. And would you know it!! She has taken another as Samarawickrama holes out to Harleen in the deep!!
Harshitha Samarawickrama c Harleen Deol b Sneh Rana 8(9)
Kaushani Nuthyangana run out (Harmanpreet Kaur/Sneh Rana) 1(3)
Sree Charani continues and the run rate is creeping towards 14 while SL are at a little over 7 at the moment. SAfter a single, Perera clubs the next ball for a boundary!! A full toss next and Perera pulls for a 6!!! Exactly what the doctor ordered. AAAND CHARANI STRIKES BACK!! A Fill toss again and Perera misses the yorker completely and she gets cleaned up!!
Hasini Perera b Shree Charani 65(42)
Amanjot back in the attack and Samarawickrama takes a single to start. Perera with a single as well and that's her half century. And she follows that up with a lashed shot for four!!
SL 121/4 after 16 overs
Vaishnavi to complete her quota now. And Kaveesha slams one over the in-field an gets a four!! Amanjot pulled off a dive but couldn't reach it. AAAND GONE AGAIN!! Kaveesha tries for a sweep shot, misses it completely and her leg stump is rattled!!
Kaveesha Dilhari b Vaishnavi Sharma 5(4)
On to the 14th and Deepti will complete her quota with this one. Starts off with a dot. Perera plays an aeriel shot next but it falls safely as 100 comes up for Sri Lanka. AAAND GONE NEXT BALL!! Silva si caught leg befoire and umpire pooints the finger to the sky. SL will review. Looks pretty plumb. And that's 3 reds.
Nilakshika Silva lbw b Deepti Sharma 3(5)
Sree Charani on to bowl the 13th over and yields 2 singles to start. Silva and Perera keep rotating strike now as they are mining ones now. Excellent over by the bowler. Gives away just 5 runs.
Amanjot replaces Sree Charani and SHE STRIKES!!! Dulani tried to up the ante, does not get the required power and has slammed it straight into the clutches of Shafali.
Imesha Dulani c Shafali Verma b Amanjot Kaur 50(39)
Vaishnavi Sharma continues and Dulani switches gears as she slams back to back boundaries off the first 2 deliveries. Takes a single and she moves to 49. Perera with a single next and Dulani completes her half century!!
SL 86/1 after 11 overs
On to the 10th over and India desperately need a wicket. Sree Charani in the attack now. Yields a single from the first 2 deliveries. Back to back dots next. Dulani finally takes a single and Perera can see this one off. Thick outside edge and the ball races to third man for a boundary.
Vaishnavi continuesand yields 2 singles from the first 2 deliveries. Big shout for an LBW. Umpire nonchalant but India will take a review this time. No bat involved. And it's umpire's call. Dulani survives. Great save by Sneh Rana in the deep to prevent the boundary!!
Sneh Rana in to bowl the 8th and Dulani and Perera take back to back singles. Dulani slaps the 5th ball straight past the bowler for a 4!! Ends with a single and she'll retain strike in the next over.
Vaishnavi brought into the attack now. Can she provide the breakthrough? Perera starts with a single. Dulani returns the favour with a single of her own as 50 comes up for the visitors. Perera ends the over with a four with a cut shot!!
Last over inside the powerplay now. Deepti to bowl and she is welcomed back with a sweep for a four by Dulani. Follows it up with back to back singles. Perera back on strike and she slashes one through the covers for a 4!!!
Sneh Rana brought into the attack now and Dulani sweeps for a four to start this over off. Big shout for an LBW now. The umpire isn't interested. India don't review as well. A single by Dulani next and Perera is back on strike. 7 from this one ultimately.
Arundhati continues and after 2 singles, Dulani smashes the 3rd one to the boundary!! The next two deliveries yield a single while the last ball is pulled by Perera for a 4!! SL purring along.
Deepti to bowl the 3rd over and Perera with a single to start this one off. Imesha Dulani on strike now and after a dot, she comes down the ground and hoicks it for a FOUR!! On to her pads next and Dulani sweeps for four more. 10 from the over.
Arundhati to bowl the next and starts off with a wide. Hasini takes a single and Athapaththu comes on strike. She slices one but there's protection in the deep as Harleen keeps it down to a single. AAAND GONE!!! Chamari tries for a drive and Deepti plucks it out of thin air!! Big wicket.
Chamari Athapaththu c Deepti Sharma b Arundhati Reddy 2(5)
Back for the chase and Chamari Athapaththu and Hasini Perera in the middle. Deepti has the new ball in hand. Gives away just 1 from the first 4 deliveries. Chamari finally gets off strike with a single. 3 from the over.
Overs 1-6: 40/2
Overs 7-16: 84/3
Overs 17-20: 51/2
Harmanpreet Kaur, and the lower-middle order power India to what appears a par total, after they were in deep trouble.
BIG LAST OVER! 20 runs off it and India move to 175.
Arundhati starts with a lofted drive over extra cover.
Then comes the big one, a brilliant sweep over square leg for a big six.
The third boundary is a lovely lofted drive over mid off as she made it a full toss but advancing down a tad bit. Held the pose too.
The fourth boundary is squeeze behind short third off the outside edge. She'd go off strike with 27 off 11 balls.
The 150 comes up and India will be pleased with that given how things looked about 30 mins back!
A 12-run 19th over as Sneh Rana and Arundhati Reddy show their lower-order batting prowess with a booundary each.
We used 'perhaps' when we said Kaveesha might be SL's best bowler this series, fair to say we don't have to qualify it. She has been fantastic, gets one to go through Harmanpreet's bat and pad, the Indian captain plays all around a length ball. But what a fine innings. by Harman.
Harmanpreet Kaur b Kaveesha Dilhari 68 (43 balls)
It's a 15-run over despite the wicket of Amanjot. Harman hit a lovely extra cover drive over the top for a four.
SIX AND OUT! A fine little innings from Amanjot Kaur ends shortly after a 50-run stand with her captain. Amanjot takes Rashmika down the ground for a six but is beaten by the change of pace next up and finds the fielder at long.
Amanjot Kaur c Kaveesha Dilhari b Rashmika Sewwandi 21 (18 balls)
HARMANPREET ON SONG! What a shot, down the ground for a 76m six Inoka drops one on length. That signature bat swing from Harmanpreet. Follows that up with a four through midwicket, actually wide of long on. Great placement.
HALF CENTURY FOR HARMANPREET KAUR! Two fours in that over and the milestone comes up as well. A full toss from Chamari, put away past midwicket. Then a sliced four behind square on the offside. Gets a single off the last ball and lifts her bat for a 35-ball half century. Top knock, has batted on a different pitch seemingly.
Boundary drought comes to an end for India, four each in that over for Amanjot and Harmanpreet. First, A Kaur over the fielder at mid off. Then H Kaur tucks one through square leg. Much needed for India, they'd need at least 140 to make a match out of this.
Just three singles in Malki's over. India looking to consolidate here.
Meanwhile, a fine stat on the broadcast.
Smriti Mandhana and Laura Wolvaardt's 2024 & 2025, the stuff of batting dreams.
India in serious trouble. Or not. Amanjot Kaur walks into bat, so maybe shouldn't be saying that. Remember her line in Guwahati after India vs Sri Lanka at the World Cup? Walked in late and put together a match-changing stand., scoring her half century. She needs to stay with her captain here. 4 runs in Inoka's over.
DEEPTI SHARMA GONE! This is a really good spell from Chamari, the captain has stepped up with the ball. She has mixed up her pace nicely. This is thrown up outside the offstump for Deepti who goes for the bread-and-butter sweep shot, but this is far outside her reach. The top edge leads to an easy catch. Deepti knew the moment she hit it.
Deepti Sharma c Nimasha Meepage b Chamari Athapaththu 7 (8 balls)
Deepti Sharma gets to bat for the first time in this series and a rebuild job awaits her. This is a good chance for India to test their temperament. A lot depends on Harmanpreet here of course as we go for the drinks break.
RICHA GHOSH GOES TOO! This is now a massive test for India. Richa Ghosh goes for a square cut and Chamari's slider goes along with the angle from around the wicket and takes the outside edge.
Richa Ghosh c Kaushini Nuthyangana b Chamari Athapaththu 5 (6 balls)
HARMAN ON SONG! The Indian captain has come out looking in good touch despite India's otherwise poor start. She said a couple of times at the toss that this was 'an important game' for India, presumably trying to ensure the mindset is right and there is no complacency. And she is batting that way. A four through midwicket, then through offside and then all timing as she pushes one down the ground for an effortless four.
HARLEEN FALLS TOO! India have lose their top three in quick time. This sis a wasted opportunity by Harleen. Firstly, to not make the most of getting to bat at No. 3 and then wasting the reprieve that Chamari provided her. Full ball from medium pacer Rashmika, goes through to hit the stumps. Soft dismissal. A lengthy over though, with three wides from Rashmika to follow and then a bad fielding effort gifts Richa Ghosh a four.
Harleen Deol b Rashmika Sewwandi 13 (11 balls)
DROPPED! That is a sitter and Chamari can't believe what she's done. Straight into her hands at mid off as Harleen Deol gets no elevation at all in her lofted off drive. Bad miss by the Sri Lankan captain, Harleen gets a life.
And Kamalini's debut doesn't last long. Couple of really good shots for fours but here she misses the ball completely while going for another sweep. Kaveesha slides one through and stirkes for Sri Lanka once more, perhaps been their best bowler. Really poor decision from Kamalini and Harleen to review that though, that was absolutely plumb.
Harman walks in early and gets going right away with a four through offside.
Kamalini lbw b Kaveesha Dilhari 12 (12 balls)
A boundary each for Harleen and Kamalini in that over as well. Nimasha continues, both Harleen and Kamlini bring out the sweep shots to good effect. That Kamalini sweep was nailed so confidently.
Finally some momentum for India and it is a memorable first boundary for Kamalini. The left-hander dances down the ground and lofts one over mid on for a nice four. Great initiative. Harleen also gets a boundary, a lofted square cut goes into the gap behind square.
SHAFALI FALLS EARLY! Nimasha strikes, and the long on in place has come into play. Shafali has focussed on playing straight down the ground a lot since her return to the side, she sticks to that but this time, the connection is not clean and the fielder at long on takes a good diving catch.
Shafali Verma c Imesha Dulani b Nimasha Meepage 5 (6 balls)
Shafali Verma gets going with a flick through square leg for four. On her pads, too easy for her in this form.
A brief mixup between Shafali and Kamalini.
What a night for G Kamalini. India debut at 17, walking out to open the batting with Shafali Verma, a veteran in that regard and who knows a thing or two about being in this situation.
We are all set, Malki to start off and Shafali has taken strike.
Hailing from the temple town of Madurai, when Kamalini was enrolled in a local cricket academy, several people questioned the move. Those questions would get louder when Saranya would take Kamalini to Chennai just to play cricket. “In Madurai, we couldn’t find girls taking up cricket. So unless she played with them, we were never going to know where she stood. With their coach finding a team here, we would travel and play club matches in Chennai. And the visits were more regular because Kamalini was scoring and taking a lot of wickets as well,” Saranya, her mother, says.
Gunalan still remembers the day vividly. In 2020, just a day after a nation-wide Covid-induced lockdown came into effect, Gunalan was giving throwdowns to his son Kishore when his 12-year-old daughter Kamalini picked up the ball and rolled her arm over. “I’d no idea she had interest in cricket. And nobody has taught her how to bowl. But she just did it in her first attempt, she had a knack,” Gunalan says of the Kamalini, who on Friday was part of Tamil Nadu side that won it’s first women’s U-19 trophy at Lahli, where she was the second highest run-getter with 311 runs in 8 matches. (READ MORE)
After the Sri Lanka series and the WPL, the Indian women's team will tour Australia for 3 T20I, 3 ODIs and 1 Test in Feb-March. After that, they will tour England for 3 T20Is from May to June. This will then lead to the T20 World Cup where India will take on Pakistan in the first match, followed by a tea, yet to qualify. They will then take on South Africa, another yet to qualify team and then Australia.
Both teams have made 2 changes each with Smriti Mandhana and Renuka Singh Thakur being rested and G Kamalini, who is set for her debut, and Sneh Rana replacing them. For Sri Lanka, Inoka Ranaweera and Malki Madara came back to the side for Malsha Shehani and Kawya Kavindi.
India Women: Shafali Verma, G Kamalini, Richa Ghosh(w), Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Arundhati Reddy, Vaishnavi Sharma, Shree Charani
Sri Lanka Women: Hasini Perera, Chamari Athapaththu(c), Imesha Dulani, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshika Silva, Rashmika Sewwandi, Kaushani Nuthyangana(w), Nimasha Madushani, Inoka Ranaweera, Malki Madara
Chamari Athapaththu: We decide bowl first. Because we played a little bit good cricket last game, so that's why we decide bowl first. Actually, we learn a lot of things in this tournament, especially we are playing against India the World Champions, so we learn a lot of things in every game. So I think these opportunities are really good for the youngsters and we learn from those mistakes and we learn from good things in here, so we will go home with positive things in next year. Yeah, we have two changes, Inoka Ranaweera back to the side and Malki Madara back to the side for Malsha Shehani and Kawya Kavindi.
Harmanpreet Kaur: Yeah, I mean, we were okay batting also, so yeah, it's an important match, so let's play well and win. Yeah, definitely. As I mentioned, it's an important match for us. How we started this series, that's how we wanted to finish. Hopefully, again, we'll continue the same momentum and give our best. Yes, we have two changes today, Smriti and Renuka are resting. Kamalini is going to debut and Sneh Rana is back.
Here's the coin flip and Sri Lanka have won the toss and opted to bowl first against india.
India registered a comprehensive 30-run win over Sri Lanka in the fourth women’s T20I on Sunday but captain Harmanpreet Kaur admitted that she had to tell her bowlers to rush with their overs towards the end in order to avoid slow over-rate charges. Harmanpreet was seen worked up towards the end while instructing her teammates towards the end of Sri Lanka’s innings in the second half of the game.
“We were getting short in time and I wanted everyone be on time. I didn’t want three fielders outside the in-field. I try to improve from my mistakes.”
“After playing a lot of ODI cricket this year, it was tough get into T20 cricket. It was mentally a little different. (I am) happy that I contributed better today. The plan was similar today as well, no major changes. I had some game plans against them and I practiced a lot,” Mandhana said.
The last time these two sides met, Smriti Mandhana's 80 and Shafali Verma's 79 as well as Richa Ghosh's 40 helped India post a massive 221/2 in 20 overs. Chasing, Chamari Athapaththu top-scored with 52 runs while Arundhati Reddy and Vaishnavi Sharma took 2 apiece as SL fell short by 30 runs.
The focus will be on star Indian opener Shafali Verma, who has been in blazing form. Verma has scored three half-centuries in four innings in this series. She has 236 runs at an average of 118.
In the 33rd over of a tense World Cup semifinal in Navi Mumbai, Jemimah Rodrigues made an error in judgment, mistiming a sweep off Alana King, and the leading edge went up in the night sky. In those brief moments, as the ball hung in the air, Indian fans would have had nightmares of past World Cups. If the catch was held, could it be the trigger for another batting collapse? It wasn’t that long ago that a rash Smriti Mandhana shot led them to a defeat against England in Indore. It was, in fact, Rodrigues’ wicket in the T20 World Cup semifinal two years ago that led to another heartbreak against Meg Lanning’s Australia. (READ MORE)
20-year-old Vaishnavi Sharma, who made her debut in this series, leads the roost as the top wicket-taker snapping up 4 scalps. She is joined by Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh Thakur and Sree Charani who all have 4 wickets apiece. Kavisha Dilhari is 5th with 3 scalps.
Shafali Verma is currently the top scorer of the series with 236 runs, followed by Smriti Mandhana who has 120. Jemimah Rodrigues is 3rd with 104 runs while Chamari Athapaththu and Hasini Perera are 4th and 5th with 101 and 100 runs respectively.
Midway through the World Cup, with India’s plight looking gloomy after losing three games in a row, cricketer Sree Charani’s father Chandra Shekhar Reddy asked her, rather tense: “You are losing all the games, how are you going to win the World Cup? But his daughter coolly, almost nonchalantly, reassured him: “We are going to win no matter what, just see.” Her words would turn prophetic.
The streak of confidence defines Sree Charani, one of the architects of India’s World Cup triumph, her journey from a cricketing backwater, Yerramalla Palli Village in Andhra Pradesh’s Kadapa district, and non-sporting background, an inspirational tale in itself. (READ MORE)
India opener Shafali Verma rose to the 6th place in the recent ICC T20I rankings for batters after her impressive performances in the ongoing Sri Lanka series. Meanwhile, her compatriot Renuka Thakur also rose to 6th n the bowlers’ rankings after she grabbed a four-fer against the Lankan Lions in the 4th T20I. Their teammate Deepti Sharma, however, continues to reign supreme as the No.1 bowler in the rankings.
1st T20I: India win by 8 wickets
2nd T20I: India win by 7 wickets
3rd T20I: India win by 8 wickets
4th T20I: India win by 30 runs
Even as Renuka Thakur showed cricketing promise at a young age, the possibility for her talent finding an appropriate stage had always been minimal. After losing her father, a cricket tragic, at the age of three, her mother Sunita was forced to take a job as a Class IV employee with the local government. Growing up in Parsa village within the small hilly town of Rohru, some 40 km away from Shimla’s city centre, resources were scarce. That was when, at the age of 13, Renuka’s uncle persuaded the family to move her to the residential academy started by the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) in Dharamshala. Looking back 16 years later, for India’s pace spearhead who played a key role in their landmark World Cup triumph this year, the giant leap of faith was evidently a life-changing moment. (READ MORE)
In head to head encounters in the shortest format, the Women in Blue absolutely blow their Lankan counterparts out of the water with India winning 22 times as opposed to Sri Lanka's 4.
India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Arundhati Reddy, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani.
Sri Lanka: Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu (c), Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Nilakshi de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Kaushani Nuthyangana (wk), Malki Madara, Inoka Ranaweera, Kawya Kavindi, Shashini Gimhani.
Sri Lanka: Hasini Perera, Chamari Athapaththu(c), Imesha Dulani, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshika Silva, Rashmika Sewwandi, Kaushani Nuthyangana(w), Malsha Shehani, Kawya Kavindi, Nimasha Madushani, Malki Madara, Shashini Gimhani, Vishmi Gunaratne, Inoka Ranaweera
India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh(w), Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Vaishnavi Sharma, Renuka Singh Thakur, Shree Charani, Jemimah Rodrigues, G Kamalini, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana
Harmanpreet Kaur and Co will look for a clean sweep against Sri Lanka in the 5th and final T20I match at Thiruvananthapuram's Greenfield International Stadium on Tuesday. The series was well and truly in the bag by the 3rd match where India restricted Sri Lanka for just 112/7 and chased it down in just 13.2 overs. That match was just an example of how dominant India have been and SL skipper Chamari Athapaththu will be hoping to avoid a 5-0 whitewash.
Sree Charani’s journey from the small village of Yerramalla Palli to World Cup stardom is a testament to extraordinary mental grit. Despite a demoralizing three-game losing streak that left her family anxious, she remained unshaken, calmly predicting a tournament victory that eventually became a reality. As a key architect of India’s success, her rise from a non-sporting background in a rural district serves as a powerful example of how unwavering self-belief can overcome a lack of traditional resources and infrastructure. (Read more from Tanishq Vaddi)
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