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- India vs Sri Lanka Live Score, 5th Women's T20I: India wrap up 5-0 clean sweep as Sri Lanka crumble under pressure
India vs Sri Lanka Live Score, 5th Women's T20I: India wrap up 5-0 clean sweep as Sri Lanka crumble under pressure
The batters played with freedom, boundaries came in clusters, and the bowlers applied constant pressure. On paper, it was a flawless series. On the field, however, a familiar weakness resurfaced — sloppy fielding.
Despite controlling every major moment, India repeatedly let themselves down in the basics. These were not difficult chances or athletic dives gone wrong. They were regulation catches that should be taken every time at international level. In the fourth T20I, Smriti Mandhana dropped a simple catch at long-on after a mistimed shot ballooned into her hands.
Soon after, Deepti Sharma spilled another straightforward chance, allowing the ball to trickle away for four instead of ending the over with a dot or wicket.
Such moments were not isolated. India dropped five catches in the series opener in Visakhapatnam, three of them straightforward. The pattern continued through the series, with missed chances punctuating otherwise dominant performances. That these errors did not change results is both reassuring and concerning. India’s depth in batting and discipline with the ball ensured Sri Lanka never capitalised, but repeated mistakes risk becoming habits when they go unpunished.
Wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh tried to put things in perspective after the fourth T20I.
“We had an off day in the field. It’s understandable, but everyone in this team is working really hard on their fielding drills. I won’t say anything about the fielding for this one game,” she said.
Head coach Amol Muzumdar will likely see this series as a reminder that dominance alone is not enough. India’s batting looks fearless and the bowling unit increasingly sharp, but fielding remains the missing piece. At the highest level, matches and tournaments are decided by moments — sharp catches, quick stops and saved runs.
With the T20 World Cup just six months away, India have time to address the issue. Sri Lanka were forgiving. Stronger opponents will not be.
SLW vs INDW Squads:
Sri Lanka Women Squad: Hasini Perera, Chamari Athapaththu(c), Imesha Dulani, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshika Silva, Rashmika Sewwandi, Kaushani Nuthyangana(w), Malsha Shehani, Kawya Kavindi, Nimasha Madushani, Malki Madara, Shashini Gimhani, Vishmi Gunaratne, Inoka Ranaweera
India Women Squad: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh(w), Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Vaishnavi Sharma, Renuka Singh Thakur, Shree Charani, Jemimah Rodrigues, G Kamalini, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana
Vaishnavi Sharma to Kavisha Dilhari, OUT! BOWLED'EM! Vaishnavi Sharma gets into the wicket-taking act now and Sri Lanka Women lose their 4th wicket. Vaishnavi cleverly drags the length back and angles it into the middle and leg stump. Kavisha Dilhari pre-empts the sweep a bit but doesn't get to the pitch of the ball and it beats the bat to smash into the leg peg.
Vaishnavi Sharma to Kavisha Dilhari, FOUR! That's an eye-catching shot from Kavisha Dilhari. Tossed up, full and outside off, Kavisha goes on one knee and hammers it flat through extra cover. Amanjot Kaur races across the turf to her left from long off but can't cut off the boundary.
Vaishnavi Sharma to Hasini Perera, 'Catch,' is the call but it falls in no man's land. Nicely flighted around off, not all that full. Hasini Perera steps out to go big but lofts it without any timing towards the vacant mid on region for a single.
- Hasini Perera 44 (33)
- Kavisha Dilhari 1 (2)
Deepti Sharma to Hasini Perera, Tossed up, on a nagging length around off, Perera holds back and just hits it on the up to long off for a single.
Deepti Sharma to Kavisha Dilhari, Fuller one angled down leg, Kavisha sweeps it away to deep square leg for just a single.
Deepti Sharma to Kavisha Dilhari, Tossed up, full and flat on middle. Kavisha Dilhari is late to judge the trajectory but does well to block it off.
Kavisha Dilhari is the new batter.
Deepti Sharma to Nilakshika Silva, OUT! LBW! Deepti Sharma strikes in her final over but this is reviewed by Nilakshika Silva. Flatter ball from Deepti, this is the one that comes from the front of the hand and it is darted straight at the stumps. Silva gets a bit across to flick but the ball straightens off the deck and beats the outside edge to strike the pads. The third umpire is called in and there's no spike on UltraEdge to begin with. Ball Tracking then comes off with three reds and Deepti finally gets to T20I wicket number 152, surpassing Megan Schutt as the leading wicket-taker in Women's T20I history.
Deepti Sharma to Hasini Perera, In the air but it will land safely. Tossed up on the pads, Hasini Perera sits down to sweep but gets a top edge over the square leg region for a single. The 100 is also up for Sri Lanka Women.
Deepti Sharma to Hasini Perera, Flatter one, darted across from leg to middle, Hasini Perera backs away to cut but jams it back onto the deck.
- Nilakshika Silva 3 (4)
- Hasini Perera 42 (30)
Sree Charani to Nilakshika Silva, A dot to end and just 5 singles come off the over. Tossed up, full and around off, this is stroked away to mid off.
Sree Charani to Hasini Perera, Full and on leg stump, cramping the batter for room, Perera jams it down to long on for another single.
Sree Charani to Nilakshika Silva, Full and wide outside off, hit away off the toe end of the blade and towards extra cover for a single.
Sree Charani to Hasini Perera, Bowled into the pitch now and around off, Hasini Perera looks for the big hit over mid-wicket but one hand comes off the handle and it goes over mid-wicket for just another single.
Sree Charani to Nilakshika Silva, Tossed up full and straight, Nilakshika Silva clips it away firmly down to wide long on and picks up a single.
Sree Charani to Hasini Perera, Fired in a bit, full and on the pads, Perera clips it towards deep square leg for a single.
- Hasini Perera 39 (27)
- Nilakshika Silva 1 (1)
Amanjot Kaur to Hasini Perera, Length ball around off, heaved away to the left of long on for a single this time. 8 runs and a wicket off the over.
Amanjot Kaur to Hasini Perera, FOUR! Poor delivery and gleefully dispatched by Hasini. A juicy and high full toss around off, Hasini Perera accepts the gift and muscles it wide of long on for a boundary.
Amanjot Kaur to Hasini Perera, Good fielding in the deep. Full and outside off, Hasini Perera plays a crisp cover drive and the ball skids through the surface towards the cover fence. However, Arundhati Reddy runs to her left from sweeper cover and dives in to save two runs.
Amanjot Kaur to Hasini Perera, Length ball around off, Hasini Perera gets across to the off side to scoop but misses and wears it on the body. That must have stung a bit.
Amanjot Kaur to Nilakshika Silva, Full of a good length, darted into the pads. Nilakshika Silva tucks it behind square on the leg side and picks up a single.
Nilakshika Silva walks out to bat.
Amanjot Kaur to Imesha Dulani, OUT! CAUGHT! What an inspired bowling change and Amanjot Kaur strikes on her very first delivery. Kaur pitches the ball full and outside off, inviting the big shot. It is there to be hit and Imesha Dulani goes after it, but the bat turns in her hand and she hits it straight to Shafali Verma on the edge of the inner ring at extra cover. Shafali makes no mistake and Dulani walks back disappointed after scoring a maiden half-century.
Amanjot Kaur comes on, replacing Sree Charani.
- Hasini Perera 32 (23)
- Imesha Dulani 50 (38)
Vaishnavi Sharma to Hasini Perera, Nice and full outside off, stroked away to cover-point by Perera.
Vaishnavi Sharma to Imesha Dulani, A maiden T20I FIFTY FOR IMESHA DULANI! Tossed up on off and middle, Imesha Dulani uses her feet to smother the spin and works it wide of long on for a single. This has been a very well-compiled knock from Imesha but she knows she has a lot more work to do in this game.
Vaishnavi Sharma to Hasini Perera, Tossed up, full and around off, driven back past the bowler and down to long off for one more.
Vaishnavi Sharma to Imesha Dulani, Flatter and a bit straighter on off, tucked away into the leg side for a single by Dulani, who moves to 49.
Vaishnavi Sharma to Imesha Dulani, FOUR! Through the inner ring again! Flatter and fuller outside off, Dulani smacks it to the left of Deepti Sharma at extra cover and gets it through for another boundary.
Vaishnavi Sharma to Imesha Dulani, FOUR! Attack is the mantra after the break for Sri Lanka Women. Tossed up around off, Imesha Dulani steps out and hits into out and gets it over the cover region. Deepti Sharma chases after it but the ball wins the race to the ropes.
Drinks Break! At the halfway mark in the chase, Sri Lanka Women have just lost 1 wicket for 75 runs but they need to step on the gas a bit more as they still require 101 more runs to win. India Women haven't been able to get regular breakthroughs but have stemmed the flow of runs after the Powerplay and Harmanpreet Kaur will hope that the young left-arm spin duo of Sree Charani and Vaishnavi Sharma is able to get a few wickets as well to tighten the screws. Let's see if this one goes down to the wire or not.
- Hasini Perera 31 (21)
- Imesha Dulani 40 (34)
Sree Charani to Hasini Perera, FOUR! Streaky but Hasini Perera will take it! At the stumps, fuller in length, Perera backs away and tries to force it through the off side. The ball catches an outside edge and races past short third for a boundary. Sri Lanka Women need 101 runs in 60 balls.
Sree Charani to Imesha Dulani, Shorter and on middle, Dulani shovels it to deep square leg for one.
Sree Charani to Imesha Dulani, Keeps it full, on middle, Dulani clears the front leg and has a swipe across the line. Gets a feather of an inside edge onto the pads and it rolls to short fine leg.
Sree Charani to Imesha Dulani, Nice and full at the sticks, Dulani plays it down the deck and Charani gets around to her right to prevent the single.
Sree Charani to Imesha Dulani, Very full and quicker through the air, on off, driven to cover.
Sree Charani to Hasini Perera, Fired in, full and on middle. Hasini clips it through mid-wicket and gets to the other end.
- Imesha Dulani 39 (30)
- Hasini Perera 26 (19)
Vaishnavi Sharma to Imesha Dulani, Full and at the pads, Imesha sweeps it hard towards deep backward square leg, where Sneh Rana sprints to her right in the deep and saves a couple of runs for her side with a dive.
Vaishnavi Sharma to Imesha Dulani, Floated up, full and on middle and leg, Imesha uses her feet but is beaten on the flick on the inside edge. Gets hit on the front pad but this is going down leg.
Vaishnavi Sharma to Imesha Dulani, Fractionally short, on off, Dulani slaps it hard but Sree Charani dives to her right at backward point and saves at least a couple of runs.
Vaishnavi Sharma to Imesha Dulani, Rapped on the pads but Imesha Dulani was a long way down the track. Not given on-field but Harmanpreet Kaur takes the review after a chat with the keeper. Full and darted in, on middle. Imesha gets down the pitch and sets up to flick it away, but ends up playing all over it. The ball sneaks past the inside edge and hits the batter below the kneeroll on the front pad. The ball is passing close to the bat but there is no spike on UltraEdge when the ball is next to the blade. The Ball Tracking shows that the ball is crashing into the top of the leg pole but the impact is umpire's call (more than 3 metres) and therefore, the on-field call will be upheld.
Vaishnavi Sharma to Hasini Perera, Looped up, angling away from the left-hander, Hasini wrists it through mid-wicket for one.
Vaishnavi Sharma to Imesha Dulani, Slower through the air, on the shorter side, around off, Imesha Dulani waits back and jabs it towards mid-wicket for a single.
A halt in the proceedings. It seems like Richa Ghosh needs some assistance from the physio as she seems to be hurt on the left wrist. The Lankan batters take this opportunity to rehydrate as well and thankfully, Richa looks good to continue after the physio applies a bit of the magic spray.
- Imesha Dulani 36 (25)
- Hasini Perera 25 (18)
Sneh Rana to Imesha Dulani, Slower but the length stays full, on middle, Imesha works it to long on for one. 29 runs off the last 3 overs. Sri Lanka need 111 runs in 72 balls.
Sneh Rana to Imesha Dulani, FOUR! Sweetly struck! Sneh fires it in, full and at the stumps. Imesha Dulani charges down the track and thumps it back over the bowler's head and wide enough of the long on fielder.
Sneh Rana to Hasini Perera, Very full, on off, pushed down to long on for one.
Sneh Rana to Imesha Dulani, Pushed through, on the fuller side, on middle. Imesha Dulani advances and heaves it away to the left of deep mid-wicket for a run.
Sneh Rana to Hasini Perera, Full and on off, Hasini flicks it to wide long on and turns the strike over.
Sneh Rana to Imesha Dulani, Looped up, on middle, Imesha Dulani strokes it to long on and picks up a single. Dulani moves to 30, her highest T20I score. The 50-run stand comes up in 32 balls.
However, beneath the emphatic scorelines lay a recurring concern: poor fielding. Despite controlling matches, India repeatedly faltered in basic catching and ground work, allowing simple chances to slip through.
Several regulation catches were dropped across the series, including glaring errors in the fourth T20I by senior players. Five catches went down in the series opener alone, setting a trend that continued throughout. While these mistakes did not affect the results due to India’s superior batting depth and disciplined bowling, they raised questions about urgency and standards.
Wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh acknowledged the lapse, calling it an off day while stressing the team’s ongoing efforts to improve. Head coach Amol Muzumdar will view the series as one of dominance mixed with lessons.
As India look ahead to tougher opposition and the upcoming T20 World Cup, sharpening fielding standards will be crucial. Against stronger teams, such errors could prove costly.
Match Statistics
Venue
Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
