Radha's four, Shafali's 47 too good for Sri Lanka; India end group stage unbeaten

The spinners’ feat meant that India, who already made it to the semis, trounced Sri Lanka by seven wickets on Saturday (March 1) in Melbourne, ending the league stage of the T20 World Cup 2020 undefeated.
Chamari Atapattu was happy to bat first after winning the toss. There was a graph on television which showed how she feeds on any width given to her outside off. With Shikha Pandey delivering a couple of deliveries in that zone, Atapattu belted them over her head for a couple of fours. It seemed as if it was her day.
At the other end, though, she longed for support. Umesha Thimashini (two), promoted to open, perished early in a bid to take on Deepti Sharma. Harshitha Madhavi then failed to get through a phase where run-scoring was tough, missing an attempted flick and getting bowled through her legs for 12.
ALSO READ: India's Air Force delivers, no need of the cavalry
But imperious Atapattu continued her merry ways at the other end. She welcomed Radha into the attack with a biggie but soon fell for 33, looking for another biggie over deep square leg. That gave the left-arm spinner the license to stifle the Lankan batters.
Once the Sri Lankan captain fell, they lost their way, losing six wickets for just 32 runs. Radha picked four of them, registering her career-best figures of four for 23. She also equalled Megan Schutt's record of picking at least a wicket in 23 successive innings. Gayakwad picked up two wickets for just 18 runs.
Teenager Kavisha Dilhari then used the long handle to good effect, staying unbeaten on 25 in just 16 balls, to help Sri Lanka finish on 113 for nine.
India’s reply got off to an audacious start, thanks to the left-right combination of Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana. The duo regularly found the gaps on a track, which had considerably slowed down in the second innings. That was glaring in none more than Smriti Mandhana’s (17) dismissal, when, looking to hit straight through the line, the bat turned in her hand and she ended up giving a catch to Dilhari at mid-on.
ALSO READ: 'Silent killer' Udeshika Prabodhani
Harmanpreet Kaur then came in at no.3 to find some form. She did find the boundary thrice – two fours and a six – in her 15-run knock but fell soon. Verma was braced to hit her maiden T20 World Cup half century but it wasn’t to be. She was run out on 47 in 34 balls, not expecting the throw to come to her end.
Eventually, Jemimah Rodrigues and Sharma strung an unconquered 28 to see India through.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 113/9 in 20 overs (Chamari Atapattu 33, Kavisha Dilhari 25*; Radha Yadav 4/23, Rajeshwari Gayakwad 2/18) lost to India 116/3 in 14.4 overs. (Shafali Verma 47; Udeshika Prabodhani 1/13) by seven wickets. PoTM: Radha Yadav.