Rashmika Sewwandi’s all-round prowess powers Sri Lanka under-19 to a massive 69-run victory against New Zealand.
New Zealand led by skipper Tash Wakelin suffered a thrashing 8-wicket defeat in their first game of the Tri-series against hosts Australia led by skipper Lucy Hamilton. The Tash Wakelin-led side was up against Sri Lanka led by skipper Manudi Nanayakkara in the 2nd match of the Tri-series at the Alan Pettigrew Oval, Brisbane.
The Sri Lankan under-19 skipper Manudi Nanayakkara won the toss and opted to bat first against New Zealand. The Sri Lankan openers Sanjana Kavindi and Hiruni Hansika got their side off to a good start with a 25-run opening partnership, with Kavindi playing the role of an accelerator in the partnership. Sri Lanka lost a couple of wickets in quick succession on successive deliveries in the 4th over of the innings.
Wicket-keeper batter Sumudu Nisansala then joined opening batter Sanjana Kavindi at the crease, and the duo stitched a much-needed 33-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to take their side past the 50-run mark. Rishika Jaswal picked up the wicket of the wicket-keeper batter Sumudu Nisansala to provide the 3rd breakthrough for New Zealand. Skipper Manudi Nanayakkara joined opening batter Sanjana Kavindi at the crease and the duo stitched a 15-run partnership for the 4th wicket.
Hannah Wallace picked up the wicket of Sanjana Kavindi to provide the 4th breakthrough for her side. Dahami Sanethma joined skipper Manudi Nanayakkara at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 25-run partnership for the 5th wicket to take their side close to the 100-run mark. Anika Todd picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Manudi Nanayakkara to provide the 5th breakthrough for New Zealand.
Sri Lanka eventually ended up with a total of 148/7 in their quota of overs. A power-packed cameo from Rashmika Sewwandi (36* off 19 balls) played a crucial role in helping her side get closer to the 150-run mark. Rashmika Sewwandi (36* off 19 balls), Sanjana Kavindi (30 off 38 balls), skipper Manudi Nanayakkara (19 off 24 balls), wicket-keeper batter Sumudu Nisansala (16 off 14 balls), and Dahami Sanethma (13 off 14 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Sri Lanka.
Anika Todd (4-0-20-3), skipper Tash Wakelin (4-0-18-1), Rishika Jaswal (3-0-15-1), Hannah Wallace (3-0-33-1), and Louisa Kotkamp (4-0-30-0) were the top performers with the ball for New Zealand. Chasing a target of 149, New Zealand got off to a poor start as they lost a couple of wickets, including the wicket of their skipper Tash Wakelin inside the first three overs of the run chase. Emma McLeod joined Eve Wolland at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 22-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to lead some sort of a recovery for their side.
Chamodi Praboda picked up the wicket of Emma McLeod to provide the 3rd breakthrough for Sri Lanka. However, New Zealand suffered a horrible collapse as they lost their last seven wickets for just 43 runs. The lack of substantial partnerships resulted in them getting bundled out for just 79 runs, falling short of the target by 69 runs. Eve Wolland (24 off 30 balls) and Anika Todd (12 off 13 balls) were the top performers with the bat for New Zealand.
Pramudi Methsara (3.3-0-6-3), Chamodi Praboda (4-0-17-2), Asheni Thalagune (3-0-16-2), and Rashmika Sewwandi (2-0-14-2) were the top performers with the ball for Sri Lanka. Rashmika Sewwandi played a pivotal role in helping Sri Lanka seal a massive 69-run victory against New Zealand in the 2nd match of the Tri-series involving hosts Australia, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand.