Afy Fletcher’s five wicket haul handed a 5th straight defeat of the tour for Sri Lanka, as the hosts cruised to a 47 run victory in Coolidge, West Indies.This was the 2nd T20i out of the three which was schedule to play on the tour. Visitors has had a disastrous tour so far and it didn’t seem like it was bound to change.
The target of 155 was set by West Indies after winning the toss and electing to bat first. Sri Lanka were on the back foot from the word go. The constant fall of wickets kept them down to a very low scoring rate.
The only time things were looking positive for the Lankans were when Chamari Athapaththu and Yashoda Mendis were on crease. The experienced campaigners for the islanders took the game to their opponents and showed positive intent. After Yashoda’s dismissal, the weight on Chamari’s shoulders was too much to handle.
However, Chamari Athapaththu proved that she is a force to reckon with as she powered her way to a quick fire 30 before she was unfortunately run out. If she had some support on the other end, Lankans could have had a sniff in the run chase.
On the other hand, all credit must go to the West Indian bowling attack. They were accurate on most occasions which did not allow the Sri Lankans with easy runs. The experienced Afy Fletcher was the pick of the bowlers with a five wicket haul under her name. She ran through the tail with utmost ease as the visitors lost their last 6 wickets for just 22 runs.
Early on, West Indies women put together a dominant performance with the bat. Skipper Stephanie Taylor top scored with a 41 ball 49 but the real impetus came from the two cameos down the order by Kyshona Knight and Britney Cooper. Sri Lankan bowling had no clue how to prevent the onslaught and before they realized they have already conceded too many for their liking.
Chief Scores
West Indies 154 for 6 (20) Stephanie Taylor 49, Deandra Dotin 27, Britney Cooper 23, Inoka Ranaweera 2/47, Chandima Gunarathne 1/20
Sri Lanka 107 all out (19.4) Chamari Athapaththu 30, Yashoda Mendis 22, Afy Fletcher 5/12
