12 July 2023 12:36 pm
An unbeaten 80 from captain Chamari Athapaththu and 49 not out from Harshitha Samarawickrama set Sri Lanka Women up for a dominant 10-wicket win over New Zealand Women in the third and final T20I played in Colombo.
New Zealand Women may have already won the series, but the consolation win means that Sri Lanka won three of the six matches -- across the ODI and T20I series -- against the White Ferns on this tour, having never beaten this opposition before.
Chasing 141 for victory, Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama put on a record unbroken partnership, the highest for Sri Lanka Women for any wicket, taking the home team to victory in 14.3 overs.
Athapaththu won the toss and put the visitors into bat first, and the Sri Lanka Women bowlers did reasonably well to restrict the White Ferns to 140 for 9 in 20 overs.
Samarawickrama hit seven boundaries, missing out on what would have been her fifth half-century in the format, although she did score the winning runs.
New Zealand Women 140 for 9 in 20 overs (Sophie Devine 46, Suzie Bates 37, Inoka Ranaweera 3/15, Sugandika Kumari 2/23)
Sri Lanka Women 143 for no loss in 14.3 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 80 n.o., Harshitha Samarawickrama 49 n.o.)