Sri Lanka survives UAE skipper Esha Oza’s late flourish to book a spot in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.
The United Arab Emirates women’s team led by skipper Esha Oza was all set to face a stern Sri Lankan challenge led by skipper Chamari Athapaththu in the 1st semi-final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifiers in Abu Dhabi. Both teams will be battling it out for a spot in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, later this year.
The UAE skipper Esha Oza won the toss and opted to field first. After being inserted to bat first, the Sri Lankan openers Vishmi Gunaratne and skipper Chamari Athapaththu got off to a solid start, scoring over seven runs an over. Vaishnave Mahesh provided a massive 1st breakthrough by dismissing the opposition skipper Chamari Athapaththu in the 8th over of the innings. Harshitha Samarawickrama joined Vishmi Gunaratne at the crease and the duo stitched another crucial 44-run partnership for the 2nd wicket before Vaishnave Mahesh came back and picked up the wicket of Harshitha Samarawickrama to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side.
Sri Lanka lost a couple of wickets in quick succession and found themselves at 115/4 in the 17th over of the innings. Sri Lanka eventually ended up with a total of 149/6 in their quota of overs courtesy of a late flourish from Nilakshika Silva and Kavisha Dilhari who stitched a blazing (32 off 17 balls) 5th wicket stand, providing the much-needed momentum to Sri Lanka, going into the innings break. Vishmi Gunaratne (45 off 44 balls), Harshitha Samarawickrama (24 off 27 balls), skipper Chamari Athapaththu (21 off 21 balls), and Hasini Perera (15 off 8 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Sri Lanka.
Vaishnave Mahesh (4-0-33-2), skipper Esha Oza (3-0-27-2), Kavisha Egodage (3-0-28-1), and Heena Hotchandani (4-0-16-0) were the top performers with the ball for the UAE. Chasing a target of 150, UAE got off to a poor start as they lost the wicket of their wicket-keeper batter Theertha Satish in the first over of the run chase. Inoshi Priyadharshani Fernando provided the first breakthrough for Sri Lanka.
Khushi Sharma joined skipper Esha Oza at the crease and the duo led the recovery for UAE with a much-needed 66-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. Sugandika Kumari cleaned up Khushi Sharma to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side. Kavisha Egodage joined skipper Esha Oza at the crease and the duo stitched another crucial 37-run partnership for the 4th wicket, taking their side closer to creating history.
However, the UAE batters failed to hold their nerve and capitalize on the solid platform laid by their top order. UAE were eventually restricted to 134/7 in their quota of overs. UAE lost their next four wickets for just 30 runs, falling short of the target by just 15 runs. Skipper Esha Oza (66 off 44 balls), Khushi Sharma (22 off 23 balls), Kavisha Egodage (16 off 20 balls), and Vaishnave Mahesh (13 off 8 balls) were the top performers with the bat for the UAE.
Skipper Chamari Athapaththu (4-0-28-2), Sugandika Kumari (4-0-21-1), Inoshi Priyadharshani Fernando (4-0-29-1), and Udeshika Prabodhani (4-0-31-1) were the top performers with the ball for Sri Lanka. Despite being on the losing side, the United Arab Emirates skipper Esha Oza was awarded the Player of the Match for her sensational all-round performance, returning with match figures (3-0-27-2) with the ball and scoring a blistering half-century (66 off 44 balls) with the bat for her side.
However, her efforts weren’t enough for her side as the Sri Lankan bowlers managed to hold their nerves to get over the line by 15 runs. Courtesy of their victory against the UAE, they have earned a qualification in the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. Sri Lanka will now face Scotland led by skipper Kathryn Bryce in the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifiers on 7th May (Tuesday) in Abu Dhabi from 9 PM IST.