Some consolation as Indian women move into last four

Former Indian skipper Mithali Raj scored an unbeaten 32 to steer Indian women to the semi-finals of the Women’s World T20, defeating Sri Lanka by five wickets at Taunton on Monday night. Needing a modest 95 to register their second consecutive Pool B win, Indian women made heavy weather of the run-chase before winning with seven balls to spare in a rain-curtailed 18-over day-night fixture. Opener Poonam Raut and Mithali stood firm among the ruins to guide the team after the batting crumbled again to some steady bowling from the Sri Lankans. India take on New Zealand in the semi-finals on Thursday at Trent Bridge.

Earlier, medium-pacer Rumeli Dhar bowled an outstanding spell with the new ball, and finished with figures of 4-2-4-2 as the Lankan women struggled. Rumeli was supported well by off-spinner Gouhar Sultana, who chipped in two wickets while Amita Sharma and Reema Malhotra claimed a wicket each.

scoreboard

Sri Lanka: P Kumarihami b Sharma 2, S Galagedara lbw b Dhar 6, W Fernando c Raut b Dhar 2, A Jayangani c Raut b Sultana 16, M Surangika c Sharma b Malhotra 17, L Kaushalya c Chopra b Sultana 7, H Rasangika not out 24, S Weerakkody not out 8; Extras (lb 5, w 7) 12; Total (6 wickets; 18 overs) 94; FoW: 1-8 (Kumarihami), 2-10 (Galagedara), 3-16 (Fernando), 4-37 (Jayangani), 5-55 (Kaushalya), 6-72 (Surangika); Bowling: J Goswami 3-0-19-, R Dhar 4-2-4-2, A Sharma 4-0-23-1, G Sultana 4-0-22-2, P Roy 1-0-8-0, R Malhotra 2-0-13-1; India: P Raut run out (Kaushalya) 30, A Chopra b Prabodhani 11, S Naik lbw b Fernando 2, R Dhar run out (Jayangani) 0, M Raj not out 32, R Malhotra b Kaushalya 12, A Sharma not out 5; Extras (lb 1, w 1, nb 1) 3; Total (5 wickets; 16.5 overs) 95; FoW: 1-27 (Chopra), 2-30 (Naik), 3-36 (Dhar), 4-60 (Raut), 5-79 (Malhotra); Bowling: S Weerakkody 3.5-0-27-0, K Prabodhani 4-0-13-1, P Kumarihami 2-1-4-0, W Fernando 3-0-23-1, L Kaushalya 3-0-21-1, A Lakshika 1-0-6-0

SOurce: http://www.indianexpress.com