Patil helps India seal series, makes claim for ODI inclusion with all round show

India faced first a puddle and then a stumble, but prevailed over Sri Lanka in the fourth T20I to win the series 3-0 after the second game was washed out.



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An overnight cloudburst meant that water had accumulated in one corner of the ground, encroaching inside the boundary line. By the time it was pumped out and the mositure super-sopped up, the match had been reduced to 17 overs. Harmanpreet Kaur won her third consecutive toss in a rain affected game, and put Sri Lanka in to bat. Their total of 134 was chased down by India with seven wickets in hand and eight balls to spare, thanks to a 96-run partnership  between Jemimah Rodrigues and Anuja Patil.



India’s chase began on a shaky note when off-spinner Oshadie Ranasinghe sent back both Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj in the second over. Mandhana had scores of 0 and 6 in her first two innings looked untroubled, pulling Ranasinghe’s first ball through square leg for four. The next delivery, she stepped slightly towards the offside, and as the ball slid down leg, half-heartedly flicked. She expected a wide, but only found her bail on the ground as the ball kissed the leg stump; she was out for 5. Mithali then top edged a sweep looking to take advantage of the square-leg fielder being inside the circle, only to offer the same fielder a catch, leaving India 18 for 2.



Rodrigues counterattacked in the same manner she has all series, a four on-the-up between the bowler and mid off fetching her first boundary. She followed that up with a six off Ranasinghe, before Taniya Bhatia became the bowler’s third victim. Then Patil joined the 18-year old.



The two took turns playing aggressor: first Rodrigues raced to 38 off just 27 balls by the end of the 10th over, when Patil was on 19 off 18. Then Patil took charge, scoring 31 runs over the next 18 balls she faced, bringing up her first T20I fifty, outscoring Rodrigues in the process. She was ruthless against Shashikala Siriwardene, taking three boundaries in an over: two sweet sweeps beating the deep fielders with a reverse sweep in between. Patil, who has been earmarked as a T20I-specialist, was sent in ahead of Harmanpreet Kaur, and showed the ability to play a long innings, something she does frequently in domestic cricket, pushing a case for ODI inclusion.



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Rodrigues finished the innings with a six, the sound of the shot as good as every other she played, showing how good her form has been. It was also her second consecutive T20I fifty, this time getting the unbeaten asterisk that she wanted in the last game. The pick of her seven boundaries was a four hit against the left arm spinner Sharina Ravikumar, when she stepped out, got inside the line, and lofted inside-out over cover.



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Earlier, Sri Lanka began their innings with more zest than they had in the last couple of matches, with the pitch not being as affected as the outfield was by the rain. Yashoda Mendis hit three boundaries in the first over, and Chamari Athapaththu countered India’s plans to attack her leg stump with a sweep for four in the second. But when Mendis looked to clear the long-on fielder, she could only mistime it into Veda Krishnamurthy’s hands there. Patil took the wicket, the first of three in the match.



Shashikala Siriwardene was more judicious with her risks. Like an experienced investor, she looked to attempt shots where there was no fielder on the boundary, or invent them in unprotected areas. An aerial cut shot off one Yadav (Radha) was followed by a lofted six over mid off for six off the other (Poonam).  She outscored Athapaththu, who was stumped off a wide by Radha for 31 (26 balls). From the bowler’s reaction, it seemed to be a deliberate ploy.



Siriwardene also benefited from a dropped catch, one of three India put down in the innings. Her 40 off 32 was the highlight in a Sri Lankan innings that never really challenged India.