Women in Blue dominate SL

Harmanpreet leads India’s 15-run win over SL in 5th T201, 5-0 series triumph for eves

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Bowlers produced a spotless effort after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur led the way with a doughty 68 as dominant India defeated Sri Lanka by 15 runs in the fifth T20I to complete a 5-0 whitewash, here Tuesday.

Harmanpreet's first fifty of the series came at an important juncture in the game when India were left struggling at 77 for five, as her 43-ball knock took the hosts to 175 for five.

Sri Lanka responded with half-centuries from opener Hasini Perera (65) and Imesha Dulani (60) but failed to find the flourish towards the end, finishing at 160 for seven. India thus capped an exceptional World Cup-winning year ona bright note.

Despite losing their skipper Chamari Athapaththu (2) early in the chase, Sri Lanka responded with a second-wicket partnership of 79 runs between Perera and Dulani which kept them in hunt.

Both Perera and Dulani batted with conviction to regularly find boundaries and rotated the strike well, but the failure to clear the ropes during their 56-ball association also meant that Sri Lanka remained slightly behind the asking rate.