Bowlers set up Sri Lanka women’s crushing win over West Indies
Sri Lanka bowlers, led by Sugandika Kumari and Kavisha Dilhari, orchestrated a comfortable 6-wicket victory in the opening match of the three-match Women’s ODI series against West Indies, played at Sooriyawewa yesterday.
Chasing a modest total of 196,
Sri Lanka got off to a flying start with Vishmi Gunaratne (40) and skipper Chamari Athapaththu (38) sharing an 88-run opening partnership. Harshitha Samarawickrema (44 not out) and Hasini Perera (43) then guided Sri Lanka smoothly with a brilliant 73-run fourth-wicket stand. Perera was trapped leg-before off Afy Fletcher when the score was on 174 but Samarawickrema and Nilakshika Silva took Sri Lanka home comfortably in 34.1 over with six wickets in hand. In response to West Indies’ 195 all out Sri Lanka were 198 for 4 with top order contributing with the bat. Aaliayh Alleyner, who removed both Athapaththu and Gunaratne, and Fletcher shared the four wickets that fell in Sri Lanka’s run chase.
Earlier, the duo of Kumari and Dilhari rattled the strong West Indian batting unit, restricting them to a below-par 195 in 47.1 overs, despite good batting conditions. Kumari finished with figures of 3 for 30 in nine overs, while Dilhari was equally impressive, claiming 3 for 41 in 9.1 overs. Put in to bat first, West Indies lost opener Rashada Williams (6) cheaply with the score at 7, but a brilliant second-wicket stand between skipper Hayley Matthews and Shemaine Campbelle took them to 75 for 1 by the end of the 18th over.
However, a double strike by Kumari removed skipper Matthews (38) and Campbelle (27) in quick succession after they had added 68 runs for the second wicket. Stafanie Taylor fought with a 56-ball 33, but wickets continued to fall around her as Sri Lanka tightened the screws through Kumari and Dilhari.
The second Women’s ODI will be played on Tuesday at the same venue.
| Scoreboard | |
| West Indies Hayley Matthews c Madavi b Kumari 38 Rashada Williams c Sanjeewani b Kulasuriya 06 Shemaine Campbelle lbw b Kumari 27 Stafanie Taylor run out 33 Chedean Nation c Sanjeewani b Dilhari 06 Chinelle Henry c Silva b Dilhari 13 Aaliyah Alleyne lbw b Athapaththu 14 Afy Fletcher run out 05 Zaida James c Madavi b Kumari 07 Karishma Ramharack not out 14 Shamilia Connell b Dilhari 09 Extras (lb3, nb2, w18) 23 Total (all out; 47.1 overs) 195 Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Williams, 2.3ov), 2-75 (Matthews, 18.1ov), 3-76 (Campbelle, 18.4ov), 4-109 (Nation, 26.4ov), 5-127 (Henry, 32.1ov), 6-149 (Alleyne, 37.2ov), 7-149 (Taylor, 37.4ov), 8-170 (James, 40.4ov), 9-170 (Fletcher, 40.6ov), 10-195 (Connell, 47.1ov) Bowling: Achini Kulasuriya 8-2-30-1, Udeshika Prabodhani 7-0-25-0, Sugandika Kumari 9-1-30-3, Inoka Ranaweera 7-0-45-0, Chamari Athapaththu 7-1-21-1, Kavisha Dilhari 9.1-0-41-3 Sri Lanka Vishmi Gunaratne c and b Alleyne 40 Chamari Athapaththu b Alleyne 38 Harshitha Samarawickrama not out 44 Kavisha Dilhari st Williams b Fletcher 00 Hasini Perera lbw b Fletcher 43 Nilakshika Silva not out 08 Extras (b4, lb5, nb3, w13) 25 Total (4 wickets; 34.1 overs) 198 Did not bat: Inoka Ranaweera, Sugandika Kumari, Anushka Sanjeewani, Udeshika Prabodhani, Achini Kulasuriya Fall of wickets: 1-88 (Gunaratne, 13.2ov), 2-100 (Athapaththu, 15.2ov), 3-101 (Dilhari, 16.3ov), 4-174 (Perera, 32.5ov) Bowling: Shamilia Connell 6-0-43-0, Chinelle Henry 3-0-21-0, Hayley Matthews 5-0-33-0, Karishma Ramharack 5-0-23-0, Afy Fletcher 5.1-1-31-2, Aaliyah Alleyne 6-1-22-2, Stafani Taylor 4-0-16-0 |