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Harshitha half-century leads Sri Lanka to second victory at T20 World Cup

13 February 2023 07:34 am - 9     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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Harshitha Samarawickrama made a composed half-century to guide Sri Lanka to a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh at Newlands in Cape Town on Sunday for their second successive victory at the Women's T20 World Cup.

Left-handed opening batter Harshitha made 69 not out and shared an unbeaten 105-run partnership with Nilakshi de Silva (41 not out).

They enabled Sri Lanka to survive an early scare in pursuit of a modest Bangladesh total of 126 for eight.

"I'm very happy about our performance," said Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu who made 68 in the opening win over South Africa but fell for 15 on Sunday.

"We don't depend on one or batters. We have been working on our batting the last couple of months."

Sri Lanka, who beat the hosts on the same Newlands pitch on Friday, were rattled when 18-year-old medium-pace bowler Marufa Akter took three wickets without conceding a run to reduce them to 25 for three in the sixth over.

Akter, whose previous five international matches had yielded only three wickets, struck with her third delivery when she had Athapaththu caught at midwicket.

In her next over she dismissed Vishmi Gunarathne and Anushka Sanjeewani with successive deliveries.

Harshitha and De Silva had to rebuild on a pitch of uneven bounce and they took the total to 49 after 10 overs, increasing the tempo as Bangladesh were unable to make any further breakthroughs.

Bangladesh lost five wickets for 24 runs in the closing stages of their innings.

Shamima Sultana (20), Sobhana Mostary (29) and captain Nigar Sultana (28) all scored briskly but the innings crumbled after the skipper was caught at midwicket off off-spinner Oshadi Ranasinghe in the 16th over.

Ranasinghe was Sri Lanka's most successful bowler, taking three for 23.

Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana said her team had fallen short by “15 or 20 runs” when they followed a bright start by losing five wickets for 24 runs in the closing stages of their innings.

"We had good batting in the powerplay," said Nigar Sultana of Bangladesh scoring 48 runs for the loss of two wickets in the first two overs.

"We wanted to continue with that."

Brief scores:

Bangladesh 126-8 in 20 overs (Sobhana Mostary 29; O. Ranasinghe 3-23, C. Athapaththu 2-19) v Sri Lanka 129-3 in 18.2 overs (H. Samarawickrama 69 not out, N. de Silva 41 not out; Marufa Akter 3-23).

(AFP)


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  Comments - 9

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  • Inshi Monday, 13 February 2023 07:48 AM

    Congrats. Sensible display of batting saw us through. Well done girls!

    Final score Monday, 13 February 2023 08:47 AM

    Congradulations to SL team. Very interesting/comical; I have noticed that always teams both men and women batting first and losing a match say that they were short by about 15 to 20 runs. Had they had those runs and still lost ... again they'll say they were short by 15 to runs. In they already had the 15 to 20 in their final score.

    Bryn jysuriya Monday, 13 February 2023 09:54 AM

    Well done srilanka

    Jude Monday, 13 February 2023 10:10 AM

    The game of Cricket has been ruined coz money has crept into the scene!! Huh!!! Money makes some nations demigods of Cricket!! That's not good for the credibility of the game!!! Unlike any other sport, cricket players been punished for throwing a game away for money and moreover cricket betting rampant needless to say game out come been predetermined!! Out of major sports only cricket players can change the outcome of the game for money!! In major North American sports, players cannot alter the out come of the game for money, period!!

    Fred Monday, 13 February 2023 10:47 AM

    Something positive for SL cricket when their world seems to be falling apart with incidents of indiscipline corruption mismanagement and poor performance. Why not pay women cricketers morer.Makes sense.Cricket is watched by everybody men and women.Will also improve the standard of women's cricket

    Gihan Monday, 13 February 2023 12:15 PM

    @fred.... The result of paying more for the men's team can be seen recently... Atleast let these girls win a cup later spoil them too ..... The biggest problem with this country is that until they don't have anything they are true to what they do... But the moment they get financial rewards they forget even where they stand!!!! Lack of maturity and guidence...

    cricketer Monday, 13 February 2023 12:22 PM

    Congratulations but there is a long way to go against favourites Australia or India who are tipped to win the competition once again.

    Fred Monday, 13 February 2023 02:06 PM

    Agree that Sri Lankans often overate themselves hopefully it won't happen with this team, money is the cause of a lot of problems in SL let us hope this team will do better than their male counterparts and earn their rewards at the end but give it a thought about some extra incentives.

    Girls showing the way Monday, 13 February 2023 02:23 PM

    Our men team has played terribly on this Newland pitch. I think they shudder even at the name. Therefore South Africa did plan to start their opening match here against us. There Chamari showed the way doing defending mostly in the first couple of overs.So all the credit to the girls showing our men the way to play here.


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