At R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday, May 4, India Women (IND-W) lost to Sri Lanka Women (SL-W) in a nail-biting match. The host team won the Tri-Nation Series for the second time in a row, winning by three wickets. After seven years, the hosts achieved a historic victory in their sole ODI against IND-W, their third against them.

Even while the batters got strong starts, none of them were able to turn them into significant scores, so the India Women had a bit of a tough start. However, the squad eventually reached a respectable total of 275/9 with to some vital runs from the lower order and a half-century from Richa Ghosh. The women’s bowlers from Sri Lanka would still be pleased with their performance, which involved applying a lot of pressure to the batsmen.

It was sufficient to put the India Women bowlers under pressure because the hosts’ hitters also formed some significant partnerships with the bat. Despite some issues presented by Sneh Rana‘s spell (3/45 in 10 overs), the batters maintained composure throughout the difficult chase and ultimately reached the mark with five balls remaining.

The difference is made by Harshitha and Nilakshika’s knocks.

The chase was aided by the knocks of Harshitha Samarawickrama (53 off 61 deliveries) and Nilakshika Silva (56 off 33 deliveries), even though the batsmen in the eighth-wicket combination, Anushka Sanjeewani and Sugandika Kumari, deserve praise for maintaining composure. Nilakshika placed pressure on the bowlers with her reckless style, while Harshitha made sure she maintained the flow of runs at the top.

Because of her knock, which occurred at a critical point in the game when her team was under duress, Nilakshika was also named Player of the Match. She struck at 169.7 during her innings, which featured three maximums and five lovely boundaries.