Women’s T20 WC: Athapaththu’s blazing start, Nilakshika’s calm finish keep Sri Lanka’s semis hope alive

Manchester, June 27 (IANS) Captain Chamari Athapaththu’s explosive start and Nilakshika Silva’s composed unbeaten finish helped Sri Lanka pull off their highest successful chase in ICC Women’s T20 World Cup history, edging Scotland by three wickets with one ball to spare to keep their semi-final hopes alive on Saturday.

The stunning win also saw Sri Lanka register their first-ever three victories in a single Women’s T20 World Cup tournament, to jump to third spot in Group B. England have already booked their semi-final berth, with Sri Lanka joining West Indies and New Zealand in the race for the second spot in the group.

Having been put to bat first, Scotland were off to a slow start but managed to post a competitive 151 for six on the back of contributions from Sarah Bryce and Ailsa Lister.

Darcey Carter, Scotland’s leading run-getter in the competition, made a patient 34-ball 36 to ensure their stay through the opening spell. However, the slower bowlers of Sri Lanka put up a strong show as boundaries dried up and Scotland could only manage 67 for two by the halfway mark.

The impetus was provided in the late stages through a 53-run fourth-wicket partnership between Lister and Sarah Bryce. The former struck four boundaries during a quick 26 before being run out by a direct throw from Nilakshika Silva and Scotland from 138 for four, slipped to 146 for six before Sarah Bryce kept one end up with an excellent undefeated 47 off 33 deliveries laced with six boundaries including a sweet cover drive to wrap the innings up.

Sri Lanka were outstanding in the field with Mithali Ayodhya being rewarded with two wickets, while Kavisha Dilhari finished with encouraging figures of 1 for 19 from her full four-overs. Two run outs put paid to Scotland’s dreams of topping the 150-run mark.

Needing not just victory but also a quick win in the chase to boost their Net Run Rate, Sri Lanka came out of the blocks with aggressive intent.

Athapaththu, fresh off a century in her last innings without being dismissed, launched into a destructive spell at the top with six boundaries and a six off just 16 deliveries as her onslaught took the powerplay score to 65, the highest for the team in the competition before she was clean bowled by Katherine Fraser in the sixth over.

Scotland responded through Fraser and the captain Kathryn Bryce, who along with Rachel Slater picked two wickets each and helped their team to restrict Sri Lanka to 118 for six after 15 overs.

However, Nilakshika Silva held her nerves to finish with a valuable unbeaten 21 to shepherd the lower order through the tough finish. The match was into the last over, and things took an ugly turn when Slater, running in to bowl, was cramped with an injury and forced to abandon her spell.

With a lot at stake, Sugandika Kumari kept her cool to hit the winning boundary through the gap at short third with Sri Lanka reaching the target by three wickets with a delivery left in their pockets to keep their dreams alive.

Brief scores: Scotland 151/6 in 20 overs (Sarah Bryce 47*, Darcey Carter 34; Mithali Ayodhya 2-34) lost to Sri Lanka 154/7 in 19.5 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 33, Nilakshi Silva 21*; Katherine Fraser 2-25, Kathryn Bryce 2-28) by 3 wickets

–IANS

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