IND Women vs SL Women, 1st Match at Guwahati, Women's World Cup, Sep 30 2025 - Ball by Ball Commentary

11:53pm That will be a wrap from us for tonight. We will be back again tomorrow as defending champions Australia take on Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand. Until then, from Madushka, Sudeep, Thilak and myself (Shashwat), it is goodbye. Take care, folks!

Harmanpreet Kaur, India captain: It was not an easy game. We know in ICC tournaments, every game is important and is going to be high-pressure. In middle overs, batters managed well, despite losing wickets. The way they (Amanjot and Deepti) handled the situation, it was outstanding to watch. Really happy all the girls came together to try to win this game for the country. Having batting till number seven (eight) is biggest strength for us. Amanjot is someone who can contribute with both bat and ball for us. Deepti has been doing it (for some time for us). Harleen's innings also played a big role for us. Kranti has been a wicket-taking option for us. Amanjot can support from the other end. They gave us a good start. Sneh Rana and Deepti's overs were crucial and we were hoping they keep giving us wickets, and they gave us breakthroughs whenever the team needed. Charani's spell was also good to see. All did really well and what we were expecting. (On Deol and her injury) I think she will be fine.

Chamari Athapaththu, Sri Lanka captain: We executed our plans but we dropped a couple of catches, especially (Amanjot) Kaur's catch. We done three mistakes and it cost us. As a batting unit, we lost a couple of wickets early and in the middle overs, and that is where we lost this game. (On the areas they have strengthened) Inoka bowled really well and Udeshika because they have experience. The rest struggled a little bit. They have to think about it a little bit, we have to talk (with the coaches) and maybe reset our plans. We are calm, I still have faith in my youngsters because they have won more games for us. If they (Dilhari, Samarawickrama and Gunaratne) can perform, we have definitely more chance to win games. (On if they could have been more attacking in their approach) Definitely. I think we batted good in the powerplay. But after losing my wicket, our batters struggled a little bit. Chasing is not easy but we need to execute our right plans at the right time. If we keep losing wickets, it is not easy to chase. Harshitha and Vishmi struggled in the middle. I know the mistakes, if we can reset these plans, I know we can bounce back.

Deepti Sharma, Player of the Match: (On her partnership with Amanjot) It was a turning point. Because back-to-back wickets were falling. Wanted to have a long partnership (and bat till the 47-48th over). The things that we had planned, we executed it. No pressure at all because I am used to these types of innings and situations. Have played it in the past, and that partnership with Amanjot was important. I do not feel pressure, I enjoy my batting. On this type of pitch, I believe in my stock balls, and try to bowl stump to stump, while backing my strengths. First match always sets the tone and there are a lot of positives from the match, and hopefully in the rest of the tournament, we can keep performing this way and keep winning this way.

22,843 was the attendance in Guwahati today - a record attendance in any league match of a Women's World Cup - T20I or ODI, Sudarshanan tells me. The previous record was 15,395 at the women's T20 World Cup last year in Dubai in a game featuring India and Pakistan.

11:34pm A fairly comfortable win for India in the end. There was a period at the start, though, when it did not feel so, especially when Athapaththu was going strong. She started off well and seemed to have found an able ally in Samarawickrama. But Deepti, like she did with the bat, proved to be a point of difference by removing Athapaththu. SL, despite a few cameos post it, could not recover sufficiently enough and ultimately, failed to mount a sustained tilt at India's total.

Speaking of India, Deepti bagged three, but Rana was probably the pick of the bunch. The others were also good in patches, although there is still perhaps some room for improvement. A good work-out in the end for India, and they navigate past what could have been a potential banana skin.

Rawal again

Ranaweera is the last batter in