The Chamari Athapaththu-led Sri Lankan women’s team was recently crowned as the Asian T20 Champions in the recently concluded ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. They defeated India led by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur in the final by eight wickets in the final to clinch their first-ever Asia Cup title.
The Asian champions will now visit Ireland for a two-match T20I series followed by a three-match ODI series in their next assignment. The regular Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu will miss the two-match T20I series courtesy of her commitments for the Oval Invincibles in the ongoing 4th edition of the Women’s Hundred. The wicket-keeper batter Anushka Sanjeewani took up the leadership duties in her absence.
The stand-in Sri Lankan skipper Anushka Sanjeewani won the toss and elected to field first. After being inserted to bat first, the Ireland openers Gaby Lewis and wicket-keeper batter Amy Hunter got their side off to a steady start with a 24-run opening partnership. Sugandika Kumari picked up the wicket of the wicket-keeper batter Amy Hunter to provide the first breakthrough for Sri Lanka.
Orla Prendergast joined Gaby Lewis at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 59-run partnership for the 2nd wicket to take their side close to the 100-run mark. Inoshi Priyadharshani Fernando picked up the wicket of Orla Prendergast to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side. Gaby Lewis soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 3rd breakthrough for Sri Lanka.
Leah Paul joined skipper Laura Delany at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 15-run partnership for the 4th wicket to take their side past the 100-run mark. Inoshi Priyadharshani Fernando returned and picked up the wicket of Leah Paul to provide the 4th breakthrough for her side. Rebecca Stokell joined skipper Laura Delany at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 24-run partnership for the 5th wicket. Skipper Laura Delany was found short of her crease to provide the 5th breakthrough for Sri Lanka.
Ireland eventually ended up with a total of 145/6 in their quota of overs. Gaby Lewis (39 off 33 balls), Orla Prendergast (29 off 27 balls), skipper Laura Delany (25 off 21 balls), and Rebecca Stokell (21 off 16 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Ireland. Inoshi Priyadharshani (4-0-35-2), Udeshika Prabodhani (4-0-20-1), and Sugandika Kumari (4-0-23-1) were the top performers with the ball for Sri Lanka.
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Chasing a target of 146, the Sri Lankan openers Harshitha Samarawickrama and Vishmi Gunaratne got their side off to a solid start with a massive 83-run opening partnership. The partnership put the visitors, Sri Lanka in the driver’s seat in the run chase. The duo scored over eight runs an over. Freya Sargent picked up the wicket of Vishmi Gunaratne to provide the much-needed first breakthrough for Ireland.
Kavisha Dilhari joined Harshitha Samarawickrama at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 29-run partnership for the 2nd wicket to take their side past the 100-run mark. Skipper Laura Delany picked up the wicket of Kavisha Dilhari to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side. The stand-in skipper Anushka Sanjeewani joined opening batter Harshitha Samarawickrama at the crease and the duo stitched a 23-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to take their side closer to victory.
Arlene Kelly picked up the big wicket of the stand-in opposition skipper Anushka Sanjeewani to provide the 3rd breakthrough for Ireland. Nilakshika Silva joined the opening batter Harshitha Samarawickrama at the crease and the duo took their side over the line with a 14-run 4th-wicket partnership. Harshitha Samarawickrama (86* off 45 balls), Vishmi Gunaratne (30 off 34 balls), and skipper Anushka Sanjeewani (12 off 11 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Sri Lanka.
Freya Sargent (4-0-27-1), skipper Laura Delany (2-0-16-1), and Arlene Kelly (3-0-26-1) were the top performers with the ball for Ireland. The visitors, Sri Lanka sealed the first T20I by seven wickets and 20 balls to spare. The Sri Lankan opening batter Harshitha Samarawickrama was awarded the Player of the Match for her brilliant, match-winning performance (86* off 45 balls) with the bat. It was also her career-best score in the T20I format. She played a crucial role with the bat in helping her side get over the line to gain an inaccessible lead in the two-match series T20I series.
