Deepti Sharma and skipper Mithali Raj hit fine half-centuries to help India post a decent 232 for 8 against Sri Lanka in their fourth match of the ICC Women’s World Cup on Wednesday.

Deepti made 78 off 110 balls while Mithali (53 off 78) continued her good form with yet another 50 plus score to set the base for India’s total after the early dismissal of openers Punam Raut (16) and Smriti Mandhana (8).

Middle-order batters Veda Krishnamurthy (29) and Harmanpreet Kaur (20) stitched crucial 50 runs in just nine overs to help India get past the 230-run mark.

Electing to bat, India didn’t have the best of starts as Mandhana departed early. She was soon followed by Raut in the 11th over, thus bringing Mithali and Deepti to the crease.

The duo first resurrected India’s innings and opened up once they got their eyes in. They shared vital 118 runs for the third wicket to not only steady India’s innings but create the perfect launchpad for others to follow.

But just when it was time for the Indian strikers to launch the attack on Sri Lankan bowlers, three quick wickets dragged them back.

After the dismissal of Deepti in the 37th over, Jhulan Goswami (9), who was promoted up the order, and Mithali to fell in successive balls of Inoka Ranaweera’s 39th over to put brakes on India’s scoring.

But Veda and Harmanpreet took the onus upon themselves to keep up the ante before both got out in consecutive balls in the 49th over off Sripali Weerakkody to hand the Sri Lankan right-arm medium pacer, an opportunity to claim a hat-trick.

The Indian willow-wielders managed a decent 62 runs off the last 10 overs.

For Sri Lanka, Weerakkody (3/28) was the pick of the bowlers while Inoka Ranaweera (2/55) also returned with two crucial wickets.

India had won the toss and elected to bat. The only change to the Indian side was that Mona Meshram was replaced by Veda Krishnamurthy while for Sri Lanka, Eshani Lokusuriyage and Harshitha Madavi were replaced by Prasadani Weerakkodi and Chandima Gunaratne.

Scoreboard

Punam Raut c Jayangani b Weerakkody 16

Smriti Mandhana c Siriwardene b Gunaratne 8

Deepti Sharma c Ranaweera b Kanchana 78

Mithali Raj lbw b Ranaweera 53

Jhulan Goswami c Jayangani b Ranaweera 9

Harmanpreet Kaur c Ranasinghe b Weerakkody 20

Veda Krishnamurthy c Gunaratne b Weerakkody 29

Sushma Verma not out 11

Mansi Joshi run out (Ranasinghe/Gunaratne) 2

Ekta Bisht not out 0

Extras: (B—1, W—4, NB—1) 6

Total: (for 8 wickets in 50 overs) 232

Fall of wickets: 1—21, 2—38, 3—156, 4—169, 5—169, 6—219, 7—219, 8—230

Bowling: Weerakkody 9—2—28—3, Gunaratne 10—1—52—1, Siriwardene 10—1—24—0, Ranaweera 10—0—55—2, Ranasinghe 3—0—22—0, Kanchana 8—0—50—1.

Teams:

India: Punam Raut, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Mithali Raj (captain), Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Jhulan Goswami, Mansi Joshi, Ekta Bisht, Sushma Verma, Poonam Yadav.

Sri Lanka: Nipuni Hansika, Hasini Perera, Chamari Atapattu, Shashikala Siriwardene, Dilani Manodara, Prasadani Weerakkody, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Chandima Gunaratne, Ama Kanchana, Sripali Weerakkody, Inoka Ranaweera (captain).