India vs Sri Lanka: 3rd Women's T20I preview and stats
What's the story
India will look to seal the five-match series against Sri Lanka in the third women's T20 International on December 26, 2025. The match is scheduled to start at 7:00pm IST at Thiruvananthapuram on Friday. India has dominated the first two matches of the series, winning by eight wickets and seven wickets respectively in Visakhapatnam. This is India's ninth win in their last 11 T20Is against Sri Lanka, who last won against India in July 2024 at Dambulla. Here's more.
Team strength
India's batting and bowling performance
India's batting line-up has been impressive, with different players performing in each match. Jemimah Rodrigues shone in the first T20I while Shafali Verma took charge in the second. The bowling unit has also been effective, with spinners restricting Sri Lanka to 121/6 and 128/9 in the two matches. Youngsters N Shree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, and Kranti Gaud have done a commendable job of sharing the workload efficiently.
Team challenges
Sri Lanka's batting struggles and bowling performance
Sri Lanka have struggled with their batting in both matches, failing to post competitive totals. They started off well but lost momentum as wickets fell in clusters toward the end of their innings. The second T20I saw a similar pattern as Sri Lanka was on track before losing captain Chamari Athapaththu and collapsing spectacularly, losing six wickets for just 26 runs.
Captain's insight
Athapaththu's comments on Sri Lanka's performance
After the second T20I, Sri Lanka captain Athapaththu acknowledged their struggles. "We had a good powerplay but lost a couple of wickets, then struggled in the middle overs," she said. "Batters played too much with the horizontal bat, which is an area for improvement. We need to score more than 150 batting first."
Information
A look at the H2H record
As per ESPNcricinfo, the two teams have met each other in 28 occasions. India have sealed 22 wins compared to Sri Lanka's 5. One game didn't have a result.
Squads
A look at the two squads
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Harleen Deol, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Singh Thakur, Richa Ghosh, G Kamalini, N Shree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma. Sri Lanka: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Hasini Perera, Vishmi Gunaratne, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Nilakshika de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Imesha Dulani, Kaushini Nuthyangana, Malsha Shehani, Inoka Ranaweera, Shashini Gimhani, Nimesha Madushani, Kawya Kavindi, Rashmika Sewwandi, Malki Madara.
Stats
Player focus: Here are the stats
In the 2nd Women's T20I, SL-W skipper Athapaththu surpassed 3,500 runs (3,504) with a knock of 31. She is one of the 4 batters in WT20Is with 3,500-plus runs. India's Rodrigues owns 2,470 runs in WT20Is and is 30 shy of the 2,500-run mark. Deepti Sharma is two shy of 150 wickets. She owns 148 scalps at 18.99. She is set to become only the 2nd bowler with 150-plus scalps after Megan Schutt (151).