Women's T20 World Cup 2024: Smriti-Harmanpreet set the stage ablaze to guide India to highest total

Smriti Mandhana (Pic: @BCCIWomen/X)

Smriti Mandhana was back to her sublime best before skipper Harmanpreet Kaur flexed her muscles to fire India to 172 for three against Sri Lanka in the Women's T20 World Cup 2024 on Wednesday.

The 98-run stand between Shafali (43 off 40) and Smriti (50 off 38) set the tone for the innings after India opted to bat at the Dubai International Stadium. Harmanpreet (52 not out off 27) then got welcome runs in the death overs to push India past 170, the highest total of the competition thus far.

Smriti, who had struggled in the tournament up till now due to the slow nature of pitches, found it tough initially before getting into the groove.

Shafali coming up with regular boundaries at the other end helped Smriti settle down.

While the southpaw could not put away off-spinner Inoshi Priyadharshani, she deposited left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari down the ground for her first boundary.

Also Read: India set record with highest total, post 172 runs for five wickets against Sri Lanka

A little later, Smriti stepped out to another left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera to smash India's first six of the tournament, highlighting the team's serious struggles in the power-hitting department.

Shafali on the other hand began well before slowing down. Her aggressive play in the powerplay took India to 41 for no loss.

Both openers were dismissed off successive balls in the 13th over, bringing Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet into the middle.

Harmanpreet, whose consistency has been questioned time and time again, showed that she remains India's most belligerent batter. She looked in business ever since she slog swept Kumari for six in the cow corner region in the 15th over.

Her whirlwind knock comprised eight boundaries including two straight hits off Udeshika Prabhodani in the final over.

(With inputs from agencies)