Former captain Mithali Raj helped India edged out Sri Lanka by 35 runs to book a place in the Super Six stage of the ICC Women’s World Cup cricket tournament in Sydney on Thursday.
Electing to bat first after winning the toss in the Group B match at the Bankstown Oval, India slumped to 78 for seven before an unbroken 59-run stand for the seventh wicket between Mithali (75) and captain Jhulan Goswami (24) guided the side to 137 for seven in 50 overs, a total that looked far from imposing.
Amita Sharma (3/19), Rumeli Dhar (2/10) and Gouher Sultana (2/16) shone with the ball to skittle out the Sri Lankans for 102 in 44.2 overs.
India had a disastrous start to their innings and by the sixth over, they had lost their two top-order batters to slump to 11 for two. Mithali, who had scored 59 in India’s nine-wicket loss to England, hit just one four in her unbeaten 120-ball knock. India had earlier beaten Pakistan by 10 wickets in their first match.
