Sri Lankan skipper, Chamari Athapaththu, in the recently concluded 8th edition of the Asia Cup reached the 5000 international runs landmark and happens to be the first woman Sri Lankan player to get to the milestone in international cricket.
Chamari Athapaththu made her Twenty20 International debut back in 2009 against India in Taunton, England during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. In the format, in 103 innings (105 games) she’s scored 2175 runs at an average of 21.53 and has got a strike rate of 102.35. She’s got 5 fifty-plus scores in the format and a century to her name with the highest score of 113 that’d against Australia.
Sri Lanka in the 8th edition of the Asia Cup didn’t have the best of starts as they lost their opener to India by 41 runs, but did exceedingly well in the following games as they registered wins against the United Arab Emirates by 11 runs, against Thailand by 49 runs and with a 72-run against Malaysia got to a hat-trick of wins. The side continuing on their momentum, registered a win against Bangladesh by 3 runs in an intriguing rain-affected game and their win streak came to an end following their defeat to Pakistan by 5 wickets in their last league stage game.
Chamari Athapaththu who’d been struggling with her form for quite a while now finally got going against Pakistan in the side’s last league stage in the aggressive fashion she is known for. She against Pakistan got off the mark of the 6th ball and with a couple of boundaries each in the next couple of overs, made up for the dot balls. She lost her opening partner, but didn’t hold back and went on to smash a hat-trick of boundaries to help her side finish the powerplay on a high. Just after the powerplay, in the 7th over, she smashed Tuba Hassan for back-to-back boundaries and raced to 41(25), but off the very next departed as Tuba Hassan with the wicket had the last laugh. Her 41, undoubtedly provided Sri Lanka with a good platform to bank on, but also proved enough for her to reach the milestone of 5000 international runs.
Chamari Athapaththu made her One Day International (ODI) debut in 2010 and in the 90 ODI innings she’s played, she’s scored 2840 runs at an average of 31.91 and a strike rate of 68.89. The format sees her with 14 fifties and 6 centuries to her name with the highest score being the 178* that she got against Australia in Bristol, England during the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup.
The side in their Semi-Final on the 13th of October stunned Pakistan defending their total of 122 in a thrilling final ball finish to claim their ticket to the final. Sri Lanka in the Final clashed India and simply had nothing go their way, as from batters departing on single-digit scores to bowlers being smashed, the game had all that Sri Lanka wouldn’t have wished for. Nevertheless, the tournament was a proud and morale-boosting one and it just was what the side needed to get their cricket back on track, a finish in the Final.
