AI Simulation, Women’s ODI World Cup | Smriti, Harmanpreet, and Renuka star as India start with comfortable win

Yesterday at 7:16 PM

As per Artificial Intelligence, India Women will beat Sri Lanka Women by six wickets in the first match of the ODI World Cup. Renuka Thakur will star with a three-wicket haul to restrict the Lankans before Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur will take the side home with half-centuries.

‌Pitch & Weather

A flat Guwahati pitch with even bounce promised runs early, but the spinners got some grip as the game progressed to make things difficult for the visitors.

It was a cloudy and humid evening in Guwahati, with rain making an appearance in the second half of the game to delay proceedings.

Toss & Conditions

Sri Lanka Women won the toss and elected to bat first.

Lineups

India Women: Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh.

Sri Lanka Women: Hasini Perera, Chamari Athapaththu (c), Harshitha Samarawickrama, Vishmi Gunaratne, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshika Silva, Dewmi Vihanga, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Udeshika Prabodhani, Malki Madara, Inoka Ranaweera.

Match Report

The 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup began in Guwahati with a high-energy clash as India Women outclassed Sri Lanka Women by six wickets. Smriti Mandhana dazzled with yet another fluent half-century during the chase, while Renuka Singh’s brilliant spell, earlier in the game, ensured Sri Lanka never had a challenging total on board.

Put into bat at the Assam Cricket Association Stadium, Sri Lankan openers Hasini Perera and Chamari Athapaththu (41) gave the side a steady foundation. But both players got out in quick succession, while trying to improve the scoring rate, to pacer Renuka Singh. Harshitha Samarawickrama, however, tried to hold the middle-order together with a patient half-century but could not gather much support from the other end. She was the backbone of the Lankan batting lineup, hitting six fours during her knock of 67 off 83. Though she stitched useful partnerships with Vishmi Gunaratne and Kavisha Dilhari, the Indian bowlers kept chipping away with regular breakthroughs. And that prevented the visitors from accelerating in the death overs as they ended at a below-par total of 228/8 in 50 overs. Renuka was the pick among the Indian bowlers with a spell of 3/42 in 10 overs, while Deepti Sharma and Arundhati Reddy took two wickets each.

India’s reply was defined by in-form batter Smriti Mandhana’s class as she timed the ball sweetly to collect boundaries on either side of the wicket. The Indian opener raced to her eighth fifty-plus score this year before missing out on a well-deserved century. She smashed 12 fours and two sixes in her 72-ball 88 to set the platform for a comfortable chase. Pratika Rawal and Harleen Deol made promising starts and built steady partnerships with Mandhana to take the side closer to the target. With Mandhana leaving the scene, captain Harmanpreet Kaur then stepped on the gas to finish proceedings in the 45th over. Her unbeaten 55 came in just 47 balls, with six fours and a six, ensured that the Women in Blue coasted to the target, despite a late resistance from off-spinner Dewmi Vihanga. India Women ended at 232/4 with 33 balls to spare, while Vihanga picked up 2/49 in her 10-over spell.