There is a spring in their steps. The kind that only the ultimate success brings.
You could sense it as Harmanpreet Kaur and Harleen Deol stepped off the team bus, chatted animatedly, and smiled heartily as they headed towards the Greenfield Stadium on a pleasant Thursday evening in Thiruvananthapuram ahead of the third match of the series. The Women in Blue have several reasons to celebrate these days, of course.
At the start of the week, the BCCI doubled the match fee in women’s domestic cricket. On the field, they have been absolutely dominant against Sri Lanka. The newly-crowned ODI World champion side has switched to the T20I mode with ease.
Harmanpreet’s side will be hoping to carry its form from Visakhapatnam. India won the first T20I by eight wickets and 32 balls to spare, and the second with seven wickets and 49 balls to spare.
In the first match, Sri Lanka crawled to 121 for six, while in the second it managed 128 for nine. If it wants to keep the series alive, it will need to bat a lot better. It, also, needs its captain to make a big score.
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Chamari Athapaththu has been a fantastic servant of Sri Lanka for many years, and rarely has her young team needed her more than now. She can win a game on her own bat, but she will want other batters to show more intent and urgency than they have in the first two matches.
Vishmi Gunaratne scored 39 (43b) in the first game and Harshitha Samarawickrama made 33 (32b) in the second before getting run out.
The host’s bowlers will be hoping to smother the Lankan batting yet again, though they will be playing on a different surface. The young seamer Kranti Goud continues to grow in stature, while the depth in India’s spin department has increased. The latest tweaker to wear the blue shirt, Vaishnavi Sharma, has impressed, claiming two wickets in the last match.
The fans of Thiruvananthapuram, which is hosting its first-ever women’s international cricket match, would rather want India to bat for more overs than they did in Visakhapatnam and see some sparkling strokeplay from the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet, Jemimah Rodrigues – who coach Amol Muzmudar said was resting ‘with bit of an issue but is fine’ — and Richa Ghosh.
The Squads
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Harleen Deol, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Singh Thakur, Richa Ghosh (WK), G Kamalini (WK), N Shree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma.
Sri Lanka: Chamari Athapaththu (C), Hasini Perera, Vishmi Gunaratne, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Nilakshika de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Imesha Dulani, Kaushini Nuthyangana, Malsha Shehani, Inoka Ranaweera, Shashini Gimhani, Nimesha Madushani, Kawya Kavindi, Rashmika Sewwandi, Malki Madara.
Match starts at 7 pm.
Published on Dec 25, 2025
