Guwahati, Oct 1: All-round contributions by Deepti Sharma, who emerged as the first Indian bowler to score a fifty and take a three-fer in a World Cup match, Sneh Rana and Amanjot Kaur helped India recover from a tough situation to register a comprehensive 59-run victory (DLS method) against co-hosts Sri Lanka in the opening match of the ICC Women's ODI World Cup on Tuesday, helping the hosts make a spectacular winning start.

Amanjot Kaur (57) and Deepti Sharma (53) first shared a rollicking 103-run partnership to rescue India from a precarious 124/6 before Sneh unleashed fireworks during her 15-ball unbeaten 28 as the hosts posted a challenging total of 269/8 in a match twice interrupted by rain, which reduced it to a 47-overs-a-side game.

The trio then shared six wickets between them as they reeled in Sri Lanka from chasing a DLS readjudged target of 271. Deepti was the most successful of them with 3-54, Sneh Rana was sensational, bagging 2-32, and with young spinner Shree Charani bagging 2-37, India bowled out Sri Lanka for 211 in 45.4 overs to start their campaign on a winning note.

The Indian bowlers tied the Sri Lankans' batters in knots in the middle overs with Sneh Rana bowling superbly restrictive line for figures of 10-0-32-2 while Amanjot, playing as the second seamer to Kranti Gaud, claimed 1-37.

The Sri Lankan chase followed a similar trajectory as that of their co-hosts, as they had a similar score at the end of the Power-play - 45/1 in 9 overs, while India were 43/1 in 10. They were in a slightly better position at 140/6 as compared to 124/6. But then they could not find any more heroes, though Nilakshika Silva tried her best with a 29-ball 35, hitting four boundaries and one six.

But the Sri Lankan lower-order failed to follow the script of the Indian innings as they lost their way, falling to the relentless pressure exerted by the Indian slow bowlers. Skipper Chamari Athapaththu (43) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (29) shared their best partnership -- adding 52 runs for the second wicket after the captain and Hasini Perera (14) were castled by Kranti Goud.

After their bowlers did a great job, especially Inoka Ranaweera 4-46, including three in five balls, the Lankan fielders committed harakiri, dropping nearly half a dozen catches, and allowed the Indians to roar back into the match.

The Sri Lankan batters went into a shell in the middle-overs, failed to score boundaries for 50-odd balls, and were unable to stitch partnerships as the Indian bowlers asserted their dominance on a pitch that gave some assistance.

India started their ICC Women’s ODI World Cup campaign on a topsy-turvy note but finished their innings on a high as Amanjot Kaur (57) and Deepti Sharma (53) struck fifties and a blazing cameo by Sneh Rana to overshadow Inoka Ranaweera’s four-wicket haul in the rain-shortened tournament opener at Guwahati’s Barsapara Cricket Stadium here on Tuesday.

A brilliant all-round batting show by Amanjot, Deepti, Harleen Deol (48), and Pratika Rawal (37) before Sneh Rana provided the final flourish with a 15-ball 28 not out as the hosts reached a challenging 269/8 in 47 overs, overcoming a middle-order collapse that had given Sri Lanka a slight edge in the middle overs.

Earlier, India started the innings on a decent note after being put in to bat first, but suffered an early setback as ace opener Smriti Mandhana walked back, scoring just eight runs off 10 deliveries. Her opening partner, Pratika Rawal, and top-order batter, Harleen Deol, sailed through the tense first Power-play and ended the first 10 overs with the scoreboard reading 43/1.

The match was then halted due to rain, and began only an hour and a half later, with two overs being reduced per innings. Resuming the game, the Indian batters faced difficulty getting going as the delay disrupted their momentum.

Inoka Ranaweera grabbed the opportunity brilliantly and picked up three wickets inside five deliveries of her 26th over as the Women in Blue suffered a terrible collapse. While Deol walked back after a well-made 64-ball 48, Jemimah Rodrigues was dismissed for a golden duck.

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who looked settled and had just got going with the bat, was also dismissed in the same over as Ranaweera added a fourth wicket to her kitty.

With Richa Ghosh being promoted one place up the order, the team laid their hopes on the wicketkeeper-batter to anchor the innings, but she followed the middle-order batters back to the dugout soon in the 27th over, and India were down to 124/6 and staring at the possibility of failing to reach even 200..

It was then the all-rounders Deepti Sharma and Amanjot Kaur who carried the game forward and got the scoreboard ticking after the side lost four wickets inside two overs. The latter also survived a couple of scares. While Achini Kulasuriya dropped her off Kavisha Dilhari’s delivery in the 33rd over, she was dropped again, this time by Nilakshi de Silva, off Sugandika Kumari’s delivery in the 38th over. The going was slow and tough as the Indians failed to score a boundary in over 50 balls in the middle overs.

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Amanjot, playing her first-ever World Cup game, scored a magnificent half-century as the Women in Blue rode on the all-rounder duo’s backs. Vishmi Gunaratne took a brilliant running catch on the boundary to dismiss Amanjot as the latter’s fanbulour knock came to an end.

Deepti and Amanjot formed a crucial seventh-wicket partnership of 103 runs off 99 deliveries, laying the foundation for the final assault.

With Deepti in good form with the bat, Sneh got going from the word go and sent the opposition bowlers to the cleaners. She faced every delivery with composure, knew where and when to hit the ball, and made a brilliant, 15-ball 28* while Deepti finished with a run-a-ball 53.

Brief scores:

India 269/8 in 47 overs (Amanjot Kaur 57, Deepti Sharma 53, Harleen Deol 48, Sneh Rana 28*; Inoka Ranaweera 4-46, Udeshika Prabhodhani 2-55) beat Sri Lanka 211 all out in 45.4 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 43, Nilakshika Silva 35; Deepti Sharma 3-54, Sneh Rana 2-32, N Shree Charani 2-37) by 59 runs DLS method.

-- IANS

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