The India Women team are in a spot of bother in the Women's ODI World Cup 2025 opener against Sri Lanka in Guwahati.
Batting first, the Indian team has lost six wickets and are struggling at 151 for 6.
In a rain interrupted match, Sri Lanka has been excellent with the ball, especially, the veteran Inoka Ranaweera.
The 39-year-old left-arm spinner has picked up 4 wickets in the match so far, boasting a figure of 4 for 30 in her six overs. Ranaweera picked up the key wickets of Harleen Deol, who is India's top scorer so far with 48 runs. Apart from that, she also dismissed India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues and Pratika Rawal. Inoka's inspired bowling reduced India to 124 for 6 at one stage, as they lost four wickets in the span of just two overs.
Who is Inoka Ranaweera?
Inoka Ranaweera is a notable Sri Lankan woman cricketer, born on February 18, 1986, in Balapitiya, Sri Lanka. She is a slow left-arm orthodox bowler and a left-handed batter. Ranaweera has had a significant career in international women's cricket, including being a former captain of the Sri Lankan women's national team.
She made history in November 2015 by becoming the first Sri Lankan woman to take an ODI hat-trick, accomplishing this feat by taking three wickets off the last three balls of an innings against New Zealand.
She won the Sri Lanka Cricket award for Women's ODI Bowler of the Year in both 2016 and 2017. She has represented Sri Lanka in many major international tournaments such as the 2021 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier, the 2022 Commonwealth Games Cricket Qualifier, the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and the 2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup. Ranaweera has played 79 ODI matches, taking 79 wickets with a best bowling figure of 4/39, and 84 T20I matches with 92 wickets, best figures being 4/7.
Inoka Ranaweera Biography
In terms of personal background, she grew up in a coastal town and was drawn to cricket early in life, nurtured by her family despite no professional sports background in them.
She started her domestic cricket career in 2003 and played for clubs such as Galle District and Sri Lanka Army Sports Club before breaking into the national team with her debut in T20 internationals in 2010. Known for her flight, turn, and pace variation, she has been an inspirational player in Sri Lankan women's cricket, contributing to the development of spin bowling and setting standards in the sport.
