The opening match of the five-game T20I series against Sri Lanka, billed as a crucial stepping stone towards the T20 World Cup in England in June-July, was less a contest and more a statement of confidence from the hosts. Carrying the momentum of their World Cup triumph last month, India eased into the shortest format, showing calm authority.

The result was a commanding eight-wicket victory, underlining that their preparations for the next global event are well and truly in motion. After restricting Sri Lanka to 121/6, India, led by the brilliance of Jemimah Rodrigues, chased down the target in 14.4 overs, reaching 122/2.

Rodrigues struck an unbeaten 44-ball 69 with 10 fours, which took India to an easy win. It was her 14th T20I fifty.

Opener Smriti Mandhana also got a good start and gave a glimpse of her batting prowess during a 25-ball 25. After Shafali Verma fell for nine in the second over, Mandhana and Rodrigues added 54 runs to set up a solid foundation for the chase. India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur also remained unbeaten, scoring 15 off 16 balls.

Rodrigues’ and Kaur put on unbeaten 55 runs for the third-wicket stand.

Sri Lanka looked rather underprepared coming into the series and failed to cash even after India dropped a few catches, easy and tough.

Shafali Verma, the player of the final in the World Cup triumph, lasted just five deliveries, she uppish flick off Kawya Kavindi caught at square leg. The 29-year-old Mandhana arrived at the crease needing 18 runs to reach the significant milestone of becoming the first Indian woman to complete 4,000 runs in T20Is cricket. She completed it with a boundary in the fifth over.

The left-handed opener is second in the list of most runs by a woman cricketer in T20Is. New Zealand’s Suzie Bates tops the list with 4,716 runs to her name. Sri Lanka’s much-talked about Shashini Gimhani, the 17-year-old ambidextrous wrist spinner, could not impress as she gave away 32 runs in the two overs she bowled. Kawya Kavindi and Inoka Ranaweera took a wicket each, but the total was too small for Sri Lanka’s bowlers to put any real pressure on India’s batters.

Put into bat first by the India skipper with the expected dew in mind, Sri Lanka never looked to put up a big total. The Indian bowlers also kept it tight. The 20-year-old left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma, making her India debut, returned the best economy (4.00) among the Indian bowlers. Even though she did not take a wicket, the youngster from Madhya Pradesh impressed on debut. Medium-pacer Kranti Gaud and spinners Deepti Sharma and Shree Charani took one wicket each. Had Charani not dropped a relatively straightforward chance offered by Hasini Perera (20) at short fine leg in the ninth over, Vaishnavi would have grabbed her first wicket for India. Instead she returned figures of 4-0-16-0.

For the visitors, Vishmi Gunaratne top-scored with 39 off 43 balls while Harshitha Samarawickrama made 21. Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu was the first to fall, bowled by Gaud in the third over just when she was looking to accelerate (15 off 12 b).

Although Indian fielders dropped plenty of catches, SL could not accelerate and scored only 121/6.

Harmanpreet Kaur said after the match: “I do not know why we keep dropping catches (laughs), but I am very happy with the way the team batted and bowled. It was wet out here, but it is not an excuse in the field. That is something we really need to think about. We just wanted to bowl first and see how it goes. We wanted to show a better approach while chasing.”

Jemimah, who had an excellent World Cup, was happy to resume cricket with a win. “We have been going really well. “It was a slightly sticky wicket, not as flat as everyone initially thought. But I was in good touch and my mindset was simple. In my mind I was blank, I was just reacting to the ball.”