Bowlers, Rodrigues give India early lead

Jemimah Rodrigues' 14th T20I fifty, following a disciplined bowling show, helped India kickstart their five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka with a clinical eight-wicket victory in Visakhapatnam on Sunday (December 21). Coming off the high of their 2025 ODI World Cup triumph, the hosts transitioned seamlessly to the shortest format, with a new-look bowling attack restricting the visitors to 121/6 despite the batting-friendly conditions. Rodrigues then led the chase, supported by record-breaking Smriti Mandhana's run-a-ball 25.

Chasing a target of 122, India lost Shafali Verma early for just nine, caught brilliantly by Shashini Gimhani at square leg. But the setback did not deter the hosts. Mandhana and Rodrigues stabilized the innings with a composed partnership of 54. En route that, the southpaw became the first Indian batter, and only second overall, to notch up 4000 T20I runs. She fell soon after, to Inoka Ranaweera.

However, that brief glimmer of hope was quickly extinguished by Rodrigues, who played an innings of technical precision. India's No. 3 put on 55 runs with her captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, to carry forward the chase without further hiccups. Rodrigues reached her half-century in just 34 deliveries, with the second of the four boundaries in an over she hit off Gimhani.

Harmanpreet provided the perfect foil for Rodrigues, surviving a close LBW shout early in her innings and focusing on strike rotation to allow the set batter to take the lead. The duo polished off the formalities with two balls to spare in the 15th over.

Earlier, the Sri Lankan innings struggled to gain momentum throughout the 20 overs as the Indian bowlers maintained a disciplined line and length. Captain Chamari Athapaththu (15) started with a boundary but was dismissed early by Kranti Gaud, who claimed her maiden T20I wicket. Opening partner Vishmi Gunaratne played a steady knock, top-scoring for the visitors with 39 off 43 balls, though she struggled to accelerate against a tight Indian field.

Hasini Perera (20 off 23) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (21 off 23) provided some stability, but neither could accelerate or stick long enough to convert their starts into a big score. Harshitha's innings was notably interrupted by a sharp bouncer from Amanjot Kaur that struck her helmet, though she resumed after a concussion check.

Vaishnavi Sharma, making her international debut, was remarkably economical, conceding just 16 runs in her four-over quota but went wicketless. Deepti Sharma applied the early pressure with a maiden over to start off with, and finished with 1/20. Kranti Gaud and Sree Charani also picked up a wicket each.

The dew made its presence felt as the fielding remained a mixed bag for India. While Gaud executed a sharp run-out of Gunaratne, there were dropped catches by Charani and Mandhana. Despite the reprieves, all Sri Lanka could manage was 121 on the board through some late impetus, but it proved insufficient to challenge India.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 121/6 in 20 overs (Vishmi Gunaratne 39; Deepti Sharma 1/20) lost to India 122/2 in 14.4 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 69*, Smriti Mandhana 25) by 8 wickets