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Harmanpreet Kaur of India with teammates during the 1st T20I match between India and Sri Lanka at Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, India, on December 21, 2025. (CREIMAS for BCCI)
The India women’s team made their triumphant return to the field, almost 50 days after winning the ODI World Cup, when they fired both with the bat and the ball to defeat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in the first match to take a 1-0 lead in the 5-match T20I series. But their fielding left a lot to be desired as they dropped as many as 4 catches against the Lankans which was a point of concern for skipper Harmanpreet Kaur.
“With bat and ball – yes. With fielding we are really working hard but I don’t know why we are dropping catches,” Harmanpreet said when asked on if she was satisfied with her team’s performance.
“It’s wet – no doubt about it, but no excuse. We know these conditions are there, in crucial matches these can cost us. We are also playing after almost a month, whatever the conditions are, think what we want to do. Today we wanted to bowl first and that was the plan,” she added talking about the conditions.
Jemimah Rodrigues struck an unbeaten 69 to help India beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the first of the five-match T20 International series. Rodrigues was in fine form as she hit 10 fours from the 44 deliveries she faced, while opener Smriti Mandhana and captain Harmanpreet Kaur chipped in with 25 and 15 not out, as India chased down the target of 122 with 32 balls to spare. India reached 122 for 2 in 14.4 overs.
Earlier, Indian bowlers dished out a clinical performance to restrict Sri Lanka to 121 for 6. Deepti Sharma (1/20), Kranti Gaud (1/23) and Shree Charani (1/30) took one wicket apiece for India while three Sri Lankan batters were run out after Harmanpreet won the toss and opted to bowl.
Vishmi Gunaratne top-scored for Sri Lanka with 39 while Hasini Perera and Harshitha Samarawickrama chipped in with 20 and 21 respectively. India are playing their first match since winning the ODI World Cup in November.
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