Deepti Sharma Stars for India in a Nervy Win Against Sri Lanka

The opening clash of the ICC Women's World Cup 2025 lived up to its hype. India defeated Sri Lanka in a nail-biting thriller, courtesy of Deepti Sharma, who secured the hosts in both innings. She remained the star of the show, because India faced a batting collapse in the first innings that gave Deepti a chance to come up with a rearguard punch.

It was a game that was marred by rain, so teams had an idea how the DLS method could come into play. Batting first, India put on a decent total of 269 on the board. They faced a serious batting collapse during the middle overs, however, Deepti Sharma and Amanjot Kaur luckily came to their rescue.

It was due to their efforts, India managed to score 269 in the end. Deepti scored a remarkable fifty by smashing 3 boundaries, while Amanjot also scored 57 off 56 balls to lift the struggling India.

From the Sri Lankan perspective, Inoka Ranaweera remained the star bowler in the first innings. She strangled the Indian batters during the middle overs, taking 4 crucial wickets, including the big scalp of Harmanpreet Kaur.

When Sri Lanka came out to bat, they were looking strong until Kranti Goud came up with a ripper to dismiss Hasini Perera in the 7th over. The Sri Lankan batting order however managed to stabilize the innings, as the captain Chamari Athapaththu was playing steadily from the start. She lost her wicket in the 15th over when the wicket started to slow down. The dismissal of Athapaththu was a turning point because it gave India an opportunity to penetrate and break the middle order of Sri Lanka.

The hosts gained full advantage of that by taking regular wickets. This eventually built pressure on Sri Lanka, as none of their batters looked comfortable while batting in the middle. Deepti Sharma once again came up with a solid performance in the second innings, as she took 3 valuable wickets while giving away just 54 runs.

On the back of her strong performance, India won the match by 59 runs. They would now feel confident for the next blockbuster clash with Pakistan that is scheduled on Sunday. It would be a great contest to watch in which both teams will try to dominate the game to secure a crucial victory.