Women’s T20 World Cup: In Text and Pix: How awesome Athapaththu inspired Sri Lanka’s upset

The stage was set for a star performance, and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu stepped up on the big occasion to deliver a World Cup masterclass on Friday.

The sights, sounds and smoke of the opening ceremony were still tingling the senses when Chamari Athapaththu headed out to the middle on the opening day of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023.

Bathed in the glorious golden light of a Cape Town evening, the 33-year-old put South Africa to the sword in front of a stunned home crowd, lighting up the first half of the match with her scything blade before superbly skippering her side home to a famous win.

For so many years Athapaththu has had to carry Sri Lanka’s efforts, steadying the ship at the top of the order.

But an influx of young quality players has given the captain freedom to unleash her talents, and she did just that in a batting assault that featured 12 boundaries.

It was the veteran’s back-to-back fours that relieved the pressure after a tense opening few overs, and she barely looked back, putting together a superb partnership worth 86 runs with U19 captain Vishmi Gunaratne (35).

A catch in the deep ended her 50-ball knock of 68 with just under three overs of the innings remaining. 

“I tried to lead from the front, it was a team performance,” a modest Athapaththu said on receiving her Player of the Match award.

"There is good culture in the team, the players are very committed.

“Vishmi is a superstar, our Under-19 captain. I just play my natural game.”

Sri Lanka went into the World Cup as the fourth-highest-ranked side in Group 1.

But this result heaps huge pressure on the tournament hosts, and gives Athapaththu a real chance of pushing for one of the two semi-final qualification spots.

“South Africa are one of the best in the world, and playing at home. We have upset big teams on a couple of occasions... but I hope my team can do better in this World Cup.”

Having been put into bat by the home side, Sri Lanka reached 129/4 thanks in large part to Athapaththu’s efforts.

But the captain says that if the coin had fallen in her favour she would also have liked to have been strolling out to the middle first up.

“The wicket was really good for batters,” she said. “Had I won the toss, I would have batted first.”

The will to win was visible from Athapaththu in the field, as she led from the front with outstanding athleticism while also marshaling her bowlers brilliantly.

Armed with a trio of skillful spinners, the Sri Lankan skipper had the tools at her disposal, but used them to perfection on the night.

And with fascinating fixtures against Bangladesh, Australia and New Zealand still to come in the group stage, you’d be brave to bet against Athapaththu inspiring her team to more famous victories before the tournament is out.