India Women vs Sri Lanka Women, 1st T20I: Clinical India Choke Sri Lanka, Take 1-0 Lead

The Indian bowlers choked the Sri Lankan women's team after Jemimah Rodrigues's vital knock on return to secure a convincing 34-run victory in the first T20 International on Thursday. Defending a modest 139-run total, left-arm spinner Radha Yadav (2/22) made her presence felt right after the powerplay by dismissing the dangerous-looking Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu (16) and Harsihtha Madavi (10) in three balls.

Reduced to 27 for three inside seven overs, Sri Lanka never managed to get going in the run chase, which was further derailed by some tight bowling by seamer Deepti Pooja Vastrakar in the middle overs en route to a tidy spell of 4-1-13-1.

Deepti Sharma gave India a flying start, dismissing opener Vishmi Gunaratne (0) in the second over. The senior off-spinner was at her miserly best in the powerplay and returned with figures of 3-1-9-1 to stymie the Sri Lanka's progress early on.

Deepti also took a stunning catch running in from deep square leg to give Radha her second wicket of the day.

Kavisha Dilhari waged a lone battle for the hosts with a fighting 49-ball 47 (6x4), but the Indians' top-class bowling and fielding ensured their team emerged easy winners for a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

The hosts needed 78 runs in the last five overs and Kavisha got going with a flurry of boundaries against Harmanpreet Kaur and Radha.

But it proved insufficient as the Indians choked the home team's run rate while denying the Islanders any six in their innings.

Shafali Varma compounded Sri Lanka's misery by dismissing Ama Kanchana (11) in the death overs to leave them tottering at 104 for five.

The second match of the series is slated for Saturday.

Opting to bat, India lost opener Smriti Mandhana (1) in the