India captain Harmanpreet Kaur set the record for registering the most wins in women’s T20Is as captain on Friday, surpassing former Australia skipper Meg Lanning. She achieved the feat after India registered an emphatic eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the third T20I of the five-match series at the Green Field International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. The 36-year-old has now led the team to 77 wins in 130 T20Is, going past Lanning, who had won 76 of her 100 matches as the skipper of the Southern Stars.
Harmanpreet has also led her team in the most T20Is (130). In the list of most victories as a captain in T20Is, England’s Heather Knight (71 wins in 96 matches) and Charlotte Edwards (68 wins in 93 matches) also make their presence felt.
With this feat, 2025 has become all the more memorable for Harmanpreet. Earlier this year, she became the first Indian captain to lead the side to a World Cup triumph after India defeated South Africa in the summit clash of the 50-over tournament at the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
Not just Harmanpreet, but also Deepti Sharma reached an impressive milestone in the third T20I against Sri Lanka, becoming the first cricketer, whether male or female, to have scored 1000 runs and taken 150 wickets in T20Is.
Owing to her three wickets, she also rose to the joint-highest wicket-taker in women’s T20Is, drawing level with Australia’s Megan Schutt with 151 wickets.
Speaking of the third T20I, Sri Lanka once again failed to put up any sort of challenge in front of India as the latter chased down the total of 113 in just 13.2 overs. Shafali Verma’s 79 ensured that the hosts did not have to toil much in an easy chase.
Earlier, Renuka Singh Thakur returned with four wickets as India restricted Sri Lanka to 112/7 in the allotted twenty overs. With this victory, the hosts gained an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
What did Harmanpreet say about the win?
Speaking after the win in the third T20I, Harmanpreet said she was pleased with how her side performed, and this would hold the team in good stead ahead of the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup in 2026.
“It was a great series for all of us. That’s what we discussed when we got together after the World Cup: we have to raise our standard. Be a little more aggressive in T20, we all know the T20 World Cup is coming up, this is the right time to push ourselves, so really happy with the overall performance,” said Harmanpreet.
“If you keep ticking all the boxes in your bowling department, you have more chances to win the game. Today, we are in this position because of our bowlers. Credit goes to all our bowling lineup, the way they bowled in this series,” she added.
India will now take on Sri Lanka next in the fourth T20I at the same venue on Sunday, December 28.
