Internet Desk: India and South Africa opened their campaigns in style at the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2017 which commenced in Colombo on Tuesday.
Left-hander Devika Vaidya top-scored with 89 to help India defeat Sri Lanka by 114 runs in a Group A match at the P. Sara Stadium while Chloe Tryon smashed a brisk 79 as South Africa scored a 63 runs victory over Pakistan in a Group B match at the Nondescripts Cricket Club.
In other matches, Ireland beat Zimbabwe by 119 runs and Bangladesh won by 118 runs against Papua New Guinea as teams embarked on their bids to qualify for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 and the ICC Women’s Championship. The 10-team tournament, which runs till 21 February, also offers ODI status for the next four years to all teams that make the Super Six stage.
As for India, it put behind its six-wicket loss to South Africa in a warm-up match, piling up runs after electing to bat on a good batting pitch. India started slowly to reach 11 for one in seven overs but the left-handed pair of Vaidya and opener Deepti Sharma (54) took control and put India on the road to a big score.
The two 19-year-olds added 123 runs for the second wicket, ‘player of the match’ Vaidya hitting 11 fours off 103 balls in only her second ODI and Sharma smashing four fours and one six off 96 balls. Captain Mithali Raj then played herself in and knocked up an unbeaten 70 off 62 deliveries for her 41st ODI fifty.
After the match Mithali Raj said, “It’s always good to start with a win. We’d started slowly in the match but Devika and Deepti put up a useful partnership to help increase the run rate. It was a good pitch to bat on and we enjoyed batting out there.”