Skipper Chamari Athapaththu’s century sets the tone for Sri Lanka’s historic victory against the White Ferns.
The New Zealand women’s side led by Sophie Devine is touring Sri Lanka for three-match ODI series, commencing on 27th June 2023, followed by a three-match T20I series that will commence from 8th July 2023. In this article, we will be having a look at how the first ODI between Sri Lanka and New Zealand panned out.
The first ODI at the Galle International Stadium threatened to get washed out due to rain at one point, but then the rain gods decided to allow some action to get underway. As a result of persistent rain, the game was reduced to a 29-over contest. The White Ferns skipper Sophie Devine won the toss and opted to bat first.
The New Zealand openers got off to a watchful start before wicket-keeper batter Bernadine Bezuidenhout got deceived by a superb delivery from Sugandika Kumari to provide the initial breakthrough for Sri Lanka. The Duo of Suzie Bates and Amelia Kerr stitched a 60-run partnership for the 2nd wicket to steady the innings.
A victory etched in the history 🙌🏻
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka Women's first-ever win against 🇳🇿 New Zealand Women!#CricketTwitter #SLvNZ 📸: @OfficialSLC pic.twitter.com/MHkpAFvkFK
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) June 27, 2023
S Bates lost her leg stump trying to sweep across the line with the intent to improve the scoring rate. Amelia Kerr soon followed in a similar fashion, top-edging the sweep and handing an easy catch to Udeshika Prabodhani.
Skipper Sophie Devine looked in ominous touch during her short stay at the crease. Maddy Green and Georgia Plimmer provided the finishing touches with a 63-run partnership for the 5th wicket to post a competitive total of 170 on the board. The revised target for Sri Lanka was 172, as per the DLS method.
After losing 11 Matches in ODIs & 10 Matches in T20Is
Sri Lanka has finally managed to claim a historic win 🤩 #CrikcetTwitter #SLvNZ 📸 @WHITE_FERNS pic.twitter.com/pbGPYdF9CR
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) June 27, 2023
The Sri Lankan Opening batters killed the chase with a partnership of 159 runs for the 1st wicket. The Sri Lankan under 19 star Vishmi Gunarathne scored her maiden half-century in the ODI format before getting dismissed to the White Ferns skipper Sophie Devine.
5️⃣0️⃣ for Vishmi Gunaratne in 73 balls 👏
Maiden ODI Fifty for the youngster to help Sri Lanka inch closer to a victory! 🏏#CricketTwitter #SLvNZ 📸: Getty pic.twitter.com/uIx1sldn4u
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) June 27, 2023
While Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu scored her 7th ODI century and remained unbeaten on 108 not out off just 83 balls, including 10 boundaries and 5 maximums, scoring at an impressive strike rate of 130.12, taking her side to their maiden and a memorable victory over the White Ferns across all the 3 formats.
