India Dominate Sri Lanka in Rain-Hit Opener: A Masterclass in Control and Calm

India Dominate Sri Lanka in Rain-Hit Opener: A Masterclass in Control and Calm

You know how sometimes a match doesn’t just swing one way — it stampedes? That’s exactly what happened when India clashed with Sri Lanka in the opening game of the tri-series in Colombo. Despite rain trying its best to play spoilsport, India’s women showed up, locked in, and wrapped things up with a smooth nine-wicket win.


And while fans celebrated the victory, some even took a moment to check the odds on platforms like Malbet, as the match turned into a complete one-sided affair. Let’s break down how it all went down — and why this match said a lot more than just "W" in the record books.


Rain Delays? No Problem, We've Got Patience

The start of the match was far from ideal. With rain hammering Colombo, the first ball wasn’t bowled until after more than two hours of waiting. You could almost hear the collective sighs from the players and fans alike. Eventually, the game was reduced to a 39-overs-a-side deal — tricky, but nothing these athletes haven’t seen before. Flexibility is part of the game, right? You either adjust or you’re toast.


And India? They didn’t just adjust — they owned it.


Early Moves: Swing and Misses

With the ball in hand, debutant Kashvee Gautam wasted no time making her presence felt. She found some early swing, enough to make Sri Lanka’s Hasini Perera’s heart skip a beat as an edge narrowly missed the slip cordon. The first few overs were tense, cagey — a classic feeling-out phase where nobody wanted to blink first.


But Sri Lanka finally managed to find the boundary in the fourth over, and a couple more followed. Maybe, just maybe, they thought they were settling in. Except... not for long.


Because when Chamari Athapaththu — Sri Lanka’s powerhouse batter — under-edged one straight to the 'keeper for just seven, you could almost sense the shift in energy. It wasn't just a wicket; it was a crack in Sri Lanka’s wall of confidence.


Enter Sneh Rana: The Game-Changer

Let me tell you something — when Sneh Rana is on, you feel it. She’s not the flashiest player out there, but she’s pure steel wrapped in cricket whites. Rana’s arrival into the attack was like switching gears in a sports car — suddenly, India was in complete control.


First, she trapped Hasini Perera right in front of the stumps — plumb as it gets. Then, a slick run-out from Jemimah Rodrigues tightened the screws even further. By now, Sri Lanka looked less like a team chasing a score and more like a group trying to survive over by over.


And Rana? She wasn’t done yet. She picked off Hansima Karunaratne and Nilakshi de Silva with simple, effective returns — those dismissals that don't scream highlight reels but break the backbone of an innings.


Charani's Coming-Out Party

If Sneh Rana was setting up the scene, Nallapureddy Charani was stealing a bit of the spotlight for herself. Holding one end up with serious discipline, Charani’s pressure paid off with her first-ever ODI wicket when Kavisha Dilhari holed out after a promising 25.


It might have been her debut wicket, but man, she bowled like she’s been there forever — calm, cool, and completely unbothered by the moment. She even picked up a second as Sri Lanka’s tail fell apart faster than a house of cards in a storm.


Meanwhile, Deepti Sharma, India’s ever-reliable star, cleaned up the last few, making sure there were no late-inning miracles brewing. Sri Lanka folded for a meager 147 in 38.1 overs.


Chasing 147: Business, Not Drama

Chasing low totals can be a funny thing. Sometimes teams overthink it, get cautious, and suddenly... chaos. But India handled this chase like a team that had a plane to catch and didn’t want any delays.


Pratika Rawal — remember the name — started with a boundary off the very first ball. No nerves, no second-guessing. Smriti Mandhana joined the party too, slicing through the Sri Lankan bowling with some classic cover drives.


The pair raced to 50 runs in the ninth over, barely breaking a sweat. Even when Mandhana fell for a well-made 43 (thanks to a sharp return catch by Inoka Ranaweera), it didn’t feel like trouble.


Because Harleen Deol stepped in with Rawal, and together they stitched an unbeaten 95-run stand that had "easy money" written all over it. Rawal knocked her fourth consecutive fifty, and Deol stayed unbeaten on 48, playing shots that oozed class and timing.


When Rawal struck the winning runs, you could sense it wasn’t just about winning — it was about sending a message. India weren’t here to play cautiously. They were here to dominate.


Final Thoughts: Why This Win Matters

Sure, a nine-wicket win looks dominant on paper. But it’s how India went about it that should have their opponents worried.




And you know what? For a young, buzzing squad heading into a packed calendar, wins like these aren’t just about points on the table. They’re about belief. Momentum. That feeling of walking into the next match thinking, “We’ve got this.”