Sri Lanka Women sprung the surprise of the day at the ICC Women’s World Cup India 2013 when Shashikala Siriwardena’s side beat the current world champion, England, by one wicket in a thrilling match at Cricket Club of India in Mumbai.
With scores tied with one ball to go, former captain Dilani Manodara smashed Georgia Elwiss over mid-wicket for six to stun the current ICC Women’s World Cup champion and create history for the Sri Lanka women’s side who had, until today, not beaten one of the top four women’s teams in the world (England, Australia, India and New Zealand).
At CCI, the day belonged to Player of the Match Eshani Kaushalya, whose power hitting – 56 off 41 balls – took Sri Lanka to the brink after it appeared that the side’s middle-order had let slip the brilliant opening stand of 103 by Chamari Atapattu (62) and Yasoda Mendis (46) in pursuit of England’s 238 for eight. Kaushalya also contributed with the new ball taking 2-49 off nine overs.
Earlier, after being asked to bat to skipper Shashikala Siriwardena, England were in trouble early at 29-3, before middle order contributions by Heather Knight (38), debutant Jenny Gunn (52) and wicket-keeper Amy Jones (41), who was playing for Sarah Taylor who is suffering from a minor hamstring niggle, propped England to what appeared to be a respectable 238 for eight. The England middle-order made a late surge taking 96 off the last ten overs.
Siriwardena said that her side always had the belief that they could pull off the chase and overcome England. “When we played against them in 2010 we lost by five runs. So we always had the faith and knew that our bowling and fielding were up to expectations. It was not easy. The main reason we won today was the team effort. Hopefully that continues.”
Siriwardena said that she trusted the ability of her players to beat England. “When we got here, we wanted to keep them under 200, but there were 39 extra runs. But I knew my players would finish it off. Our batting line-up is very strong. The wicket-keeper bats at No 10. So, even when wickets were falling, I knew the other batters would finish it off.”
Player of the match Eshani Kaushalya was elated at the win. “I had no pressure. After the first innings got over, I always believed that I will go out there and finish the match.”
Kaushalya, who’s a fan of riding bikes extended her daredevilry to batting too, with three huge sixes and five fours in her 41-ball knock. She kept going for her shots even when wickets were falling at the other end.
With two needed for the win, England bowler Georgia Elwiss dropped a regulation high catch off Kaushalya. “When the catch was dropped in the last over, I knew it was the lucky day for me and I knew we would finish it off,” said Kaushalya, a big fan of Kumar Sangakkara.
After the loss, England skipper Charlotte Edwards was effusive in her praise for Sri Lanka. “We are bitterly disappointed. It is not the perfect start to the World Cup. I think lot of credit has to Sri Lanka and how they have played. We had a decent score and we let it slip there in the end with a couple of dropped catches. The credit has to go to Sri Lanka and today we just weren’t good enough.
“We were happy with a score of 238 from the position we are in after the start we got. Towards the end, some good hitting from Sri Lankans and some dropped catches from our side that really cost us. I thought if we could have held the catch down there (long on) we could have won the match by 30 runs and we paid for that.”
Edwards said that England did miss Taylor, who was out with hamstring niggle, but that wasn’t a reason for the loss. The 32-year-old stressed that England would come back strongly in their next game against India on Sunday. “We will pick ourselves up for the game against India. It’s not all over. There is no need to panic. We just need to come back hard on Sunday.”
Scores in Brief
At Cricket Club of India
England 238-8, 50 overs (Gunn 52, Jones 4, Knight 38; Seneviratna 2-35, Kaushalya 2-39)
Sri Lanka 244-9, 50 overs (Atapattu 62, Kaushalya 56, Mendis 46; Brindle 2-38, Elwiss 2-39, Brunt 2-36)
Sri Lanka won by one wicket
