Sri Lanka squandered a solid start as they collapsed from 70/1 to 142/9 in their 2nd game of the Super Six stage at the Women’s World Cup Qualifier against South Africa earlier today; South Africa cruised to a 9 wicket win.
Lokusooriya half century guides Sri Lanka to crucial win
Eshani Lokusooriya made a valuable half century as the Sri Lanka Women chased down the target of 212 set…
Lankan skipper Inoka Ranaweera won the toss at the P Sara Stadium and quite surprisingly put the visitors in to bat on a slow and low wicket. The hosts got off to a bad start as their most prolific batter Chamari Atapattu fell in just the 2nd over, trapped right in front in the 2nd over by an in dipper by Marizanne Kapp. Nipuni Hansika and Chamari Polgampola found the going tough but managed to survive, putting on a valuable 67 run partnership for the 2nd wicket, with the former doing most of the scoring. Polgampola labored to 15 off 57 deliveries, before she was trapped in front by South African skipper Dane Van Niekerk and Sri Lanka never quite recovered from the blow as Dilani Manodara was run-out almost immediately after.
From being 70/1, Sri Lanka slumped to 96/7 in the space of 10 overs, effectively ending hopes of getting to a respectable total. Hasini Perera put up some resistance for the hosts alongside Ranaweera, but Sri Lanka could only manage a meager 30 runs in the last 18 overs as they finished on 142/9.
Leg-spinners Van Niekerk and Sune Luus were the chief wreckers for South Africa, picking up 5 wickets between them.
South Africa started off their chase in brisk fashion with Lizelle Lee in particular, picking up a few boundaries in the beginning of the innings. She went on to make 35 off 29 deliveries, an innings that included 7 boundaries. From that point onwards it was a long hard day in the field for the hosts as Laura Wolvaardt and Luus took their own cool time getting to the target. Both notched up half centuries with Wolvaardt using up 118 deliveries. The visitors got over the mark with nearly 14 overs to spare.
Sri Lanka will play their last game of the Super Six stage on Sunday against Bangladesh.
