The Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu led from the front with a sparkling ton as Sri Lanka bounced back from a defeat against the West Indies in the last game to thrash Ireland by 9 wickets with plenty to spare. Chamari Athapaththu bowled well with the ball in hand before shining with the bat. Electing to bowl first, they kept Ireland down to 130/5 in 20 overs despite a half-century from Gaby Lewis as the Lankans bowled good discipline line and length.
In reply, the captain Chamari put on a clinic as in the chase of 130, she scored an unbeaten 106 off 61 balls for her 4th T20I hundred as Sri Lanka romped home to the win with style, winning in 15.3 overs by 9 wickets. The others played supporting roles to her, but it was the Chamari show all the way. Sri Lanka kept their hopes alive, albeit slim, for a semi-final spot.
Gaby Lewis’ fighting half-century helped Ireland post a fighting 130/5 in 20 overs
Put into bat first, Amy Hunter and captain Gaby Lewis came out to bat for Ireland while Mithali Ayodhya had the ball in hand for Sri Lanka. Ireland got off to a shaky start as the opening duo could add just 1 run to the score before Hunter fell for a silver duck to a run out. Orla Prendergast came out to bat next. Just 2 runs were added to the score before Prendergast fell for a 6-ball duck to Sugandika Kumari. Rebecca Stokell came out to bat next.
Gaby and Rebecca tried to forge some sort of a partnership and added 16 runs for the 3rd wicket before Stokell fell for 13 off 12 balls with 3 fours to her name to Mithali. Leah Paul came out to bat next inside the power play. The duo of Lewis and Paul started to build a partnership and played the rest of the power play out. Ireland were 30/3 in the 6 overs of power play.
The duo carried on to bat through the middle overs and slowly increased the scoring rate as well. The duo put on 66 runs for the fourth wicket, crucially in about 10 overs since the third wicket fell, before Leah Paul fell for 20 off 27 balls with one four to her name to Nilakshi de Silva. Alice Tector came out to bat with Ireland at 85/4 in 14 overs. Lewis managed to form some sort of a partnership with Tector.
The duo added 28 runs for the 5th wicket before the captain Lewis fell for a fighting 59 off 50 balls with 8 fours to her name to her opposite number Chamari Athapaththu. Louise Little came out to bat next. The score was 113/5 in 18.3 overs with 9 balls left in the innings. Tector played a quick late cameo as the duo added an unbroken 17-run stand of 9 balls as Ireland ended with a respectable 130/5 in 20 overs. Tector was unbeaten on 28 off 21 balls with 3 fours to her name, while Little was unbeaten on 1 off 2 balls. 9 extras given by the fielding side.
The Sri Lankan bowlers bowled decently out there. Mithali Ayodhya was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 1/18 in 4 overs. Sugandika Kumari finished with 1/26 in 4 overs. Captain Chamari Athapaththu finished with 1/23 in 3 overs. Nilakshi de Silva finished with 1/12 in 2 overs. Nimasha Madushani finished with figures of 0/26 in 4 overs. Kavisha Dilhari finished with figures of 0/21 in 3 overs. This meant that Sri Lanka needed 131 runs to win this match.
Chamari Athapaththu’s sparkling 4th T20I ton powers Sri Lanka to a thumping 9-wicket win
Chasing 131 for the win, captain Chamari Athapaththu and Imesha Dulani came out to open for Sri Lanka while Aimee Maguire had the ball in hand for Ireland. From the outset, it was the Chamari Athapaththu show as she put on a show for the ages under bright skies at Bristol. Bristol is a venue she likes as she scored a masterful 171 against Australia in 2017 in the ODI World Cup. She just cashed in on familiarity and dominated the proceedings.
Dulani was happy to play second fiddle at run a ball and even less than that as Chamari was taking care of things at the other end. Chamari played some excellent shots as the Lankans were 55/0 in 6 overs of power play and were cruising now. The duo carried on their merry ways even after the power play as Chamari completed her half-century very quickly. The required rate was never a problem now as Sri Lanka sailed through to the target.
The opening duo played through the middle phase and put on 98 runs for the first wicket in 12 overs before Dulani fell for 20 off 27 balls with 3 fours to her name to Orla Prendergast. Nilakshi de Silva came out to bat next with just 33 needed for the win. Nilakshi too played the second fiddle and hardly faced balls. It was Chamari’s dominance all the way.
She scored the bulk of the remaining runs quickly and managed to score an unbeaten ton and got her side over the line. The duo of Chamari and Nilaskhi added 36 unbeaten runs for the 2nd wicket in quick time as Sri Lanka got over the line with 4.3 overs to spare. Chamari carried her bat and remained unbeaten on 106 off 61 balls with 17 fours and 2 sixes to her name while Nilaskhi remained unbeaten on 4 off 5 balls as Sri Lanka finished with 134/1 in 15.3 overs. 4 extras given by the fielding side.
It was a hard day for the Irish bowlers. Orla Prendergast was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 1/22 in 4 overs. Aimee Maguire finished with 0/35 in 3 overs. Arlene Kelly finished with 0/27 in 3 overs. Lara McBride finished with 0/22 in 2.3 overs. Cara Murray finished with figures of 0/27 in 3 overs. So, Sri Lanka thrashed Ireland by 9 wickets with 27 balls to spare. Chamari Athapaththu was awarded the Player of the Match Award.
What Lies Ahead
So, Sri Lanka with this win now has 4 points from 4 games and is in 4th place in Group B behind New Zealand on Net Run Rate. West Indies will face Ireland while Sri Lanka has Scotland next. England vs West Indies in Group B is tomorrow night at the Oval in London. Coming up next is a Group A game in Headingley, Leeds, where Australia the 6-time champions, face Pakistan who are already eliminated from the tournament. Let’s see how this match pans out.
An interesting game is on the cards and we shall see if Pakistan can push Australia to the limit and make a match out of it. Australia are favourites and will bat first to put the runs on the board.
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