Match 4 of women’s cricket at the Commonwealth Games saw England and Sri Lanka meet for the 2nd game of the group B fixtures. In the game, England with the ball in hand continued their domination by restricting Sri Lanka to a very under-par total that the hosts chased down comfortably for a win and to get an all-important couple of points on the board.
1st innings : Sri Lanka – 106/9 (20)
Sri Lanka having won the toss opt to bat first and had absolutely nothing go by the script they would have wished. Katherine Brunt playing her 100th T20I game for England created instant impact handing Vishmi Gunaratne a golden duck. Both Hasini Perera and skipper Chamari got a couple away to the fence before Sophie Ecclestone came on to bowl the final over of the powerplay and struck Hasini Perera on 16(18). Freya Kemp too struck off her first ball dismissing a defensive Chamari Athapaththu on 10(18). It wasn’t long before Freya struck again and this time dismissed Kavisha Dilhari on 10. Nilakshi de Silva was the only Sri Lankan batter who meant business and played brilliantly for her 25(28) before Issy Wong dismissed her and then a struggling Anushka Sanjeevani on 2(9) in the same over. Sarah Glenn bowling her final over got into the wickets tally with the wicket of Ama Kanchana on 6(7). Oshadi Ranasinghe added late valuable runs that saw Sri Lanka get to 100 and edge past before Ecclestone picked up a couple in the final over by dismissing Ranasinghe on 13(20) and Sugandika Kumari on 4(7). Sri Lanka posted a low total of 106 in their 20 over. For England, every bowler had a day out and it is Ecclestone with 3 lead the wicket chart which had Freya and Wong with a couple each follow and also Sarah Glenn and Katherine Brunt with one each. A special mention to Katherine Brunt who in her 100th T20I game registered an outstanding figure of 3-0-8-1.
2nd innings : England – 109/5 (17.1)
England in reply had both openers Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt get underway with a boundary in the first over before Oshadi Ranasinghe in the very next over dismissed the latter on 5(5). Sophia Dunkley added a couple more boundaries and a few runs to her tally before Ranasinghe stuck again and this time dismissed Dunkley on 17(16). Nat Sciver and Alice Capsey safely saw off the remaining powerplay and as England edged past 50 Inoka Ranaweeram trapped skipper Sciver lbw on 17(14) and Inoka too had her second in no time as Amy Jones departed early on 3(5). With wickets falling on one end, Alice Capsey showed a very mature knock and so did Maia Bouchier as the duo stitched a good run-a-ball 42-run partnership that saw curtains with Inoka Ranaweeram picking up her 3rd off the last ball of her 4 overs by dismissing Alice Capsey on 44(45). With just one required for the win, Alice Capsey couldn’t, but Maia Bouchier with a boundary did it in style for England as they registered a 5-wicket win with Maia Bouchier unbeaten on 21(18). For Sri Lanka, Inoka Ranaweera with 3 and Oshadi Ranasinghe with 2 got on the wickets chart. A special mention to Kavisha Dilhari who with the ball remained unrewarded but recorded very good figures of 3-0-13-0.
England start their Commonwealth campaign on a winning note, beating Sri Lanka by 5 Wickets. #ENGvSL #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/4v8MNQaKBc
— Female Cricket #B2022 (@imfemalecricket) July 30, 2022
Sri Lanka coming into the Games and their performance in the first Game doesn’t reflect a good change as it looks like nothing has changed in their mindset and that the practice hasn’t been good enough as the misfiring continued which had them tumble down for a low total. While England enjoying a good run got on the victory board straightaway.