Nethmi steers Sri Lanka U-19 women to second win
Dewmi Wijerathna
An impressive half-century–a 49-ball 51, inclusive of seven boundaries by Nethmi Poorna, laid the foundation for Sri Lanka Under-19 Women’s team to record a thrilling 6-run win over the England Under-19 Women in the Women’s Youth Tri-Nation T20 Tournament encounter played at Sooriyawewa yesterday.
The win also saw the host side coasting to their second successive win of the tournament, having overcome the Australia Under-19 Women by 5 wickets in the first match played.
Sri Lanka women, taking first lease of the wicket after skipper Manudi Nanayakkara won the toss, lost two early wickets in the fifth over with the score on 31. They recovered after Nethmi Poorna was joined by the skipper Manudi Nanayakkara, as the pair frustrated the English bowlers with an imposing third wicket stand before right-arm spinner Ava Lee made the breakthrough with the wicket of skipper Manudi (30). Manudi hit four boundaries and more importantly played a vital role in their valuable 75-run third wicket stand, which helped Sri Lanka reach a competitive total of 128 for 7.
Nethmi Poorna
The separation of the pair saw Sri Lanka losing wickets in a hurry. In fact, they lost four quick wickets for the addition of 16 runs. Lee was England’s best bowler, claiming four scalps to restrict Sri Lanka lasses.
The English women, in their run chase, were given a sedate start of 37 runs by openers Davina Perrin and Erin Thomas, followed by another brief stand of 28 runs for the third wicket between Charis Pavely and Abi Norgrove.
However, they underwent the same fate of losing wickets at crucial stages. With five overs remaining, they were on the box seat with the scoreboard reading 94 for 4. But they lost three quick wickets within the space of three overs and were in a spot of bother, leaving them needing 11 runs in the last over.
It was spinner Dewmi Wijeratne, who in her last over succeeded to restrict them to five runs for a score of 122, as the Sri Lanka Under-19 women chalked up a thrilling 6-run victory. Sri Lanka will play against Australia tomorrow at the same venue.
| SCORECARD | |
| Sri Lanka U-19 Women Dewmini Wijeratna lbw b Stonehouse 11 Sanjana Kavindi b Lee 00 Nethmi Poorna c Surenkumar b Lee 51 Manudi Nanayakkara c Surenkumar b Lee 30 Rashmi Nethranjalai c Groves b Smale 00 Rashnika Sewwandi run out 01 Hiruni Hansika not out 06 Sumudu Nisansala b Lee 00 Shashini Gimhani not out 06 Ectras (lb3, nb2, w10) 15 Total (7 wickets; 20 overs) 128 Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-31, 3-106, 4-115, 5-115, 6-122, 7-122 Bowling: Alexa Stonehouse 3-0-19-1, Mary Taylor 3-0-22-0, Sophia Smale 3-0-21-1, Ava Lee 4-0-19-4, Josie Groves 4-0-2-0, Amu Surenkumar 3-0-24-0 England U-19 Women Davina Perrin c Nethranjalai b Gimhani 23 Erin Thomas c Kavindi b Munasinghe 21 Charis Pavely c Nanayakkara b Hansika 20 Abi Norgrove run out 31 Amu Surenkumar c Wijeratne b Gimhani 00 Josie Groves c Gimhani b Wijeratne 09 Alexa Stonehouse c Nethranjal b Nanayakkara 02 Sophia Smale not out 10 Katie Jones not out 02 Extras (b1, w4) 04 Total (7 wickets; 20 overs) 122 Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-51, 3-79, 4-82, 5-100, 6-105, 7-120 Bowling: Rashmika Sewwandi 3-0-18-0, Rashmi Nethranjalai 1-0-14-0, Dewmi Wijeratne 4-0-25-0, Chamodi Munasinghe 4-0-21-1, Shashini Gimhani 4-0-12-2, Hiruni Hansika 2-0-16-1, Manudi Nanayakkara 2-0-15-1 |