- India defeated Sri Lanka by 16 runs in a World Cup match to take a giant stride towards qualifying for the semifinals. Their spin bowlers choked Sri Lanka's batting. - In another match, Australia scored 290/8 and then bowled out Pakistan for 131 to win by 159 runs. - England scored 373/5 and then restricted South Africa to 305/9 to win by 68 runs. Mithali Raj and India have now won 4 straight matches and remain undefeated against Sri Lanka since 2013.

1. Indian women inch closer to semis with win over Sri
Lanka
England down South Africa and Australia rout Pakistan to enhance hopesof last four berths inWorld
Cup
Indiatooka giantstride towardsclinchingasemifinal spotwithanotherconvincing16-runvictoryover
Sri Lankain a one-sidedICCWomen’sWorldCupencounterhere onWednesday.
In anothermatch,Australiaposted290 for 8 andthenbowledoutPakistanfor131 to score a 159-run
victory.
Englandscoreda comfortable 68-runwinoverSouthAfrica.
BattingfirstEnglandreached373 for 5 in50 oversand thenrestrictedSA to305 for 9.
Mithali Raj and Co recordedtheirfourthwinonthe trot as Indiadefendedarespectable 232/8 by
restrictingthe islandnationto216 for7. The Indianevesalsomaintainedacleanslate againsttheirsub-
continental neighbourssince the 2013 WorldCup,havingneverlosta single ODIinall meetings.
India’sbatteryof slowbowlershave chokedthe oppositiontime andagainduringthe tournamentsofar.
It was nodifferentonthe dayas leg-spinnerPoonamYadav(2/23 in 10 overs) ledthe charge withtwin
blows,removingthe dangerousChamari Atapattu(25) andopenerNipuni Hansika(29).
Left-armspinnerEktaBisht(1/48 in 10 overs) andoff-spinnerDeepti Sharma(1/46 in10 overs) were
alsoeconomical.
The seasonedJhulanGoswami (2/26in8 overs) wasparsimoniousasever,andprovidedimportant
breakthroughstoo.
Dilani ManodaraSurangika(61 off 75 balls) battedwell butfoundlittlesupportatthe otherend.
SkipperRaj marshalledherresourceswell afteranotherimpactful half-century,whichwaslargely
responsible forthe decenttotal.
The match decisivelyswunginIndia’sfavourwhenthe pint-sizedPoonam, comingroundthe wicket,got
the betterof Atapattuwitha flighteddeliverythatshe triedtosweepbutmissedthe line tobe bowled.
Anotheridentical deliverysawNipuni make abigstride forwardfora slogsweeponlytobe stumpedby
SushmaVerma.The Lankan inningsneverhadthe momentumdespite gallanteffortfromSurangika.
Earlier,Deepti SharmaandRaj hitfine half-centuriestohelpIndiapostadecent232 for 8.
Deepti made 78 off 110 ballswhile Mithali (53off 78) continuedhergoodformwithyetanother50 plus
score to set the base for India’stotal afterthe earlydismissalof openersPunamRaut(16) and Smriti
Mandhana (8).
Middle-orderbattersVedaKrishnamurthy(29) andHarmanpreetKaur(20) stitchedcrucial 50 runsin
justnine overstohelpIndiagetpast the 230-run mark.
Electingtobat, Indiadidn’thave the bestof starts as Mandhanadepartedearly.She wassoonfollowed
by Raut inthe 11th overthat broughtMithali and Deepti atthe crease.

2. The duo firstresurrectedIndia’sinningsandopeneduponce theygottheireyesin.
Theysharedvital 118 runs for the thirdwickettonot onlysteadyIndia’sinningsbutcreate the perfect
launchpadforothersto follow.
But justwhenitwas time forthe Indianevestolaunchthe attack onSri Lankanbowlersthree quick
wicketsdraggedthemback.
Afterthe dismissal of Deeptiinthe 37th over,JhulanGoswami (9),whowaspromotedupthe order,and
Mithali to fell insucessive ballsof InokaRanaweera’s39thoverto putbrakeson India’sscoring.
But VedaandHarmanpreettookthe onus uponthemselvestokeepupthe ante before bothgotoutin
consecutive ballsinthe 49thoveroff Sripali Weerakkodytohandthe Sri Lankan right-armmedium
pacer,an opportunitytoclaima hat-trick.
The Indianwillow-wieldersmanagedadecent62 runsoff the last10 overs.
For Sri Lanka, Weerakkody(3/28) wasthe pickof the bowlerswhile InokaRanaweera(2/55) also
returnedwithtwocrucial wickets.
Courtesy:KhaleejTimes