Skipper Chamari Athapaththu’s all-round show and Sachini Nisansala’s maiden five-wicket haul powers Sri Lanka to a massive victory to complete a whitewash’
The Sri Lankan women’s team led by skipper Chamari Athapaththu thrashed the visitors, West Indies in the 2nd ODI as they sealed the game and the series with a five-wicket victory. It is their first ODI series victory against the West Indies in the last 16 years. Their last series win against the West Indies came in November 2008.
The stand-in West Indies skipper Shemaine Campbelle won the toss and opted to field first in the 3rd ODI. The regular skipper Hayley Matthews was ruled out of the ongoing ODI series due to illness. After being inserted to bat first, the Sri Lankan openers Vishmi Gunaratne and skipper Chamari Athapaththu got their side off to a solid start with a 93-run opening stand, scoring over four runs an over.
Sri Lanka suffered a mini collapse as they lost their three wickets for just six runs and in the space of 18 balls. Nilakshika Silva joined skipper Chamari Athapaththu at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 57-run partnership for the 4th wicket. Afy Fletcher cleaned up the opposition skipper Chamari Athapaththu to provide a massive breakthrough for the West Indies. Skipper Chamari Athapaththu fell just nine runs short of her well-deserved century.
Sri Lanka eventually posted a total of 275/6 in their quota of overs. The 117-run 5th wicket partnership between Nilakshika Silva and wicket-keeper batter Anushka Sanjeewani played a crucial role in taking the hosts, Sri Lanka past the 270-run mark. Skipper Chamari Athapaththu (91 off 106 balls), Nilakshika Silva (63 off 78 balls) and wicket-keeper batter Anushka Sanjeewani (55 off 46 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Sri Lanka.
Karishma Ramharack (10-0-46-2), Afy Fletcher (10-0-36-1), Shamilia Connell (9-0-51-0), and Qiana Joseph (6-0-40-1) were the top performers with the ball for the West Indies. Chasing a target of 276, West Indies got off to a poor start as they lost a couple of wickets in quick succession, including the wicket of their stand-in skipper Shemaine Campbelle. Stafanie Taylor joined Shemaine Campbelle at the crease with West Indies in deep trouble at 5/2 in the 6th over of the run chase.
The duo stitched a much-needed 57-run partnership for the 3rd wicket before Oshadi Ranasinghe picked up the wicket of Stafanie Taylor to provide the 3rd breakthrough for Sri Lanka. West Indies suffered a horrible collapse as they lost their last seven wickets for just 53 runs. As a result, they were bundled out for 115 with 91 balls to spare, falling short of the target by 161 runs. Chedean Nation (46 off 57 balls), Aaliyah Alleyne (27 off 27 balls), and Stafanie Taylor (16 off 50 balls) were the top performers with the bat for the West Indies.
Sachini Nisansala (5.5-1-28-5), Oshadi Ranasinghe (8-4-14-2), and Udeshika Prabodhani (6-3-6-1) were the top performers with the ball for Sri Lanka. The 22-year-old left-arm spinner Sachini Nisansala was awarded the Player of the Match for her exceptional spell with the ball. She picked her maiden five-wicket haul, just in her 2nd game in the ODI format. The 161-run margin is the highest margin of victory for Sri Lanka in the ODI format.
The 18-year-old Sri Lankan opening batter Vishmi Gunaratne was the leading run-scorer of the ODI series with 134 runs at a strike rate of 83.22 and an impressive average of 44.66 to her name in three innings. Her tally of runs included one half-century. She was awarded the Player of the Series for her sensational performances with the bat throughout the series.
