Visakhapatnam: Opener Shafali Verma delivered an impressive unbeaten 69 as India Women registered a strong seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka Women, finishing the match with 49 balls remaining at the Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA VDCA Cricket Stadium took a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20I series. India's bowlers, especially Shree Charani, set a solid foundation before Shafali completed the chase in style.
Choosing to bowl first, India struck quickly and kept Sri Lanka from gaining any momentum. They took wickets consistently, limiting the visitors to 128 for 9 in their 20 overs. Sri Lanka improved slightly from their 121 in the first T20I. Kranti Gaud continued her good form by taking down Vishmi Gunaratne for 1 in the first over, caught off the follow-through. Although Arundathi Reddy let a few runs slip early on, the Indian bowlers applied enough pressure to keep Sri Lanka from breaking free.
Sri Lanka managed to score 39 runs in the Power-play but faced difficulties, with skipper Chamari Athapaththu as their main contributor. Athapaththu hit two sixes in her 31 off 24 balls before falling to Sneh Rana, the only change in the lineup for the second T20I due to Deepti Sharma's absence because of a fever. Hasini Perera and Harshitha Samarawickrama stabilised the innings by rotating the strike, bringing Sri Lanka to 66 for 2 by the halfway point.
As the field opened up, Perera struggled to find the boundary and was eventually out for 22 off 28 balls, dismissed by Shree Charani in the 13th over, ending their 44-run partnership. Harshitha appeared confident during her knock and scored 33 before being run out in the 17th over.
Sri Lanka could not maintain their pace at the end, losing wickets rapidly. Nilakshi de Silva added just two runs before being dismissed by Vaishnavi Sharma, who took her first T20I wicket, as Sri Lanka finished at 128 for 9. Shree Charani (2/23) and Vaishnavi Sharma (2-32) were the top bowlers, with Kranti Gaud (1-21) and Sneh Rana (1-11) each taking one wicket.
