June.27 (Mirror Sports) - Sri Lanka kept their ICC Women's T20 World Cup semi-final hopes alive after Chamari Athapaththu's explosive start laid the foundation for a thrilling three-wicket victory over Scotland in their final Group 2 match at Old Trafford on Friday.

Chasing 152 in a must-win contest, Sri Lanka looked to be cruising before a dramatic middle-order collapse threatened to derail the chase. However, Sugandika Dasanayaka held her nerve, striking the winning boundary with one ball remaining to seal a tense victory and keep Sri Lanka's qualification hopes alive.

The win lifted Sri Lanka to third place in Group 2 with three victories, although their semi-final fate now depends on other results. They need Ireland to beat West Indies by a significant margin and England to defeat New Zealand on Saturday to book a place in the last four.

Athapaththu set the tone with a blistering 33 off just 16 balls, smashing 18 runs from Gabriella Fontenla's only over as Sri Lanka raced to 65-2 inside the powerplay. Hasini Perera and Harshitha Samarawickrama added valuable contributions before Scotland fought back impressively.

Captain Kathryn Bryce sparked the collapse by dismissing Perera and Samarawickrama, while Katherine Fraser trapped Hansima Karunaratne and Kirstie Gordon removed Kavisha Dilhari as Sri Lanka slumped from 57-1 to 78-4 and later to 118-6.

Needing 34 from the final five overs, Kaushani Nuthyangana briefly swung the momentum back with consecutive boundaries before falling. Nilakshi de Silva survived a dropped catch in the penultimate over, and Dasanayaka then kept her composure by slicing the second-last ball of the match to the boundary to spark jubilant Sri Lankan celebrations.

Earlier, Scotland recovered strongly after slowing through the middle overs to post a competitive 151-6.

After a brisk start, Sri Lanka's spinners tightened their grip, restricting Scotland to 100-3 after 15 overs. But Sarah Bryce produced an unbeaten 47 off 33 balls and shared a rapid 53-run stand with Ailsa Lister, whose aggressive late hitting lifted Scotland to a challenging total.

Despite Scotland's late charge, Athapaththu's fearless start and Sri Lanka's composure in the closing stages proved enough to secure a thrilling victory and keep their World Cup campaign alive.

                    Scores:                    

Scotland 151-6 (20 overs): Sarah Bryce 47* (33), Ailsa Lister 28; Inoshi Priyadharshani Ayodhya 2-34.

Sri Lanka 154-7 (19.5 overs): Chamari Athapaththu 33 (16), Hasini Perera 25; Katherine Fraser 2-25.

Sri Lanka won by three wickets.

        * Nilakshika Silva, Player of the Match

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