India 138 for 6 (Rodrigues 36*, Shafali 31, Ranaweera 3-30, Ranasinghe 2-22) beat Sri Lanka 104 for 5 (Dilhari 47*, Radha 2-22) by 34 runs

Ranasinghe sends early jitters

India didn’t get the desired start after opting to bat. On a slowish surface, Sri Lanka pressed their slow bowlers into action early on, stifling Smriti Mandhana. The left-hander then tried to break the shackles against offspinner Oshadi Ranasinghe, only to miscue one straight to mid-on. On the next ball, Ranasinghe dismissed Sabbhineni Meghana for a first-ball duck to jolt the tourists early.

Rodrigues’ flourish after Ranaweera’s stifle

Shafali was dismissed by Chamari Athapaththu on her second ball, holing out to long-on for a run-a-ball 31. Soon left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera got into the act to stifle the middle order. She first trapped Harmanpreet in front for 22 before dismissing Richa Ghosh and the dangerous Pooja Vastrakar in successive overs.

Familiar story

The 139-run chase from Sri Lanka had a familiar look to it with Athapaththu scoring 15 of the 25 they scored in the powerplay. But Radha Yadav, playing her first T20I since the tour to England last year, dismissed Athapaththu and Harshitha Madavi in the same over to kill off the chase.

Dilhari finished unbeaten on 46 after walking in at No. 4 but couldn’t receive enough support from the other end. India used 12 overs of spin, including that of Shafali’s offspin – where she had Ama Kanchana stumped for her maiden international wicket – to keep the home side in check and start off their tour with a win.