India Women continue their dominant run in the ongoing five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. On Sunday, December 28, 2025, India added their fourth victory in Thiruvananthapuram after defeating them by 30 runs. Smriti Mandhana was named Player of the Match for her massive contribution in the team’s win.
The batters played a big role in the first innings for India Women, who lost the toss against Sri Lanka. However, that did not change their determination and hope to perform their best, and they did so with the opening batters Mandhana (80 off 48) and Shafali (79 off 46) scoring a partnership of 162 runs. Other valuable contributions came from Richa Ghosh who scored an unbeaten 40 runs off 16 balls, while skipper Harmanpreet Kaur added 16 runs (not out).
India Women ended the innings at 221/2. Malsha Shehani and Nimasha Meepage were the only wicket-takers of the Sri Lankan women’s team.
In the second innings, Sri Lanka Women started off in good momentum but felt a bit short in the end. Opening batter Hasini Perera scored 33 runs off 20 balls, while skipper Chamari Athapaththu added 52 off 37. The remaining batters failed to add much but did so with their decent runs. Imesha Dulani was run out in 29 runs off 28, Harshitha Samarawickrama added 20 off 13, Kavisha Dilhari scored 13 off 8, and Nilakshika Silva remained undefeated in 23 runs off 11 balls.
This time, Sri Lanka made some improvements in their batting performance. India Women’s young debutant Vaishnavi Sharma and Anuradha Reddy picked up two wickets each, while Sree Charani added one. Meanwhile, Amanjot Kaur secured one runout of Dulani.
Smriti Mandhana on her partnership with Shafali Verma
Mandhana, crediting her 162-run partnership with Shafali during the post-match interview, says the two have a good understanding that helped in creating a massive partnership. She also heaps praise on Shafali’s growth from last year.
“To watch Shafali bat at the other end is always a treat to the eyes. She does the majority of the hitting in the powerplay. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. She has matured a lot. In the last one year, there is a different kind of team building, everyone is celebrating everyone’s success,” Mandhana said.
Meanwhile, India skipper credited the team’s victory to her teammates Mandhana, Shafali, and Richa.
Harmanpreet said, “We were getting short in time and I wanted everyone be on time. I didn’t want three fielders outside the infield. I try to improve from my mistakes. Should give credit to Shafali and Smriti and then me and Richa finished well. We thought we will give chance to Harleen, but today how it went, we sent Richa early. Smriti and Shafali didn’t let Harleen bat.”
