DUBAI: Captain Harmanpreet Kaur and opener Smriti Mandhana hit half-centuries as India defeated Sri Lanka by 82 runs to boost their chances of making the semi-finals of the Women’s T20 World Cup on Wednesday.

India piled up a tournament high of 172-3 from their 20 overs before Sri Lanka were dismissed for 90 off the penultimate ball of the match.

India now have two wins in three games ahead of their final group match with six-time champions Australia on Sunday.

Just the top two teams from each of the five-nation pools make the semi-finals.

Mandhana made 50 from 38 balls with four fours and a six to register her 27th T20 International fifty.

She also shared a 98-run opening stand with Shafali Verma (43) before Kaur put on a blistering display of shot-making.

The captain reached her 13th half-century in the format off 27 balls and finished undefeated on 52 with eight boundaries and a six.

Just as important for India, Kaur showed little effect of the neck injury she had suffered in the win over Pakistan at the weekend.

In reply, Asian champions Sri Lanka collapsed to 6-3 inside three overs before Kavisha Dilhari (21) and Anushka Sanjeewani (20) put on 37 for the fourth wicket.

But they always struggled to keep up the run rate with Ama Kanchana (19) the only other player to reach double figures.

For India, fast bowler Arundhati Reddy and leg-spinner Asha Sobhana returned identical figures of 3-19 in their four overs.

The result means that Sri Lanka have no chance of making the semi-finals after three defeats.

In Wednesday’s earlier match, South Africa produced a superb all-round performance to thrash Scotland by 80 runs in their Group B fixture.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, South Africa chalked up 166-5 in their 20 overs with captain Laura Wolvaardt (40), Tazmin Brits (43) and Marizanne Kapp (43) all feasting on some weak bowling and poor fielding.

Scotland, playing in their first World Cup, were never in the chase and slumped to 80 all out in 17.5 overs to be eliminated from the tournament after three successive defeats.

“We felt the best chance to win the game was to put a lot of runs on the board and restrict them,” said Wolvaardt. “We wanted to be ruthless and show what we are about and kill it off the way we did.”

The win lifts South Africa, beaten by Australia in the final of the 2023 edition, to the top of their group while Scotland, who had already lost to Bangladesh and West Indies, remain bottom.

South Africa play their final group game against Bangladesh in Dubai on Saturday, knowing that a win will give them a great chance of reaching the semi-finals.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2024