Sri Lanka lost a last over thriller against Australia in their 2nd group stage match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 on 24th February at WACA Ground, Perth.
>>Sri Lanka lose to New Zealand in their first match of the Women’s T20 World Cup<<
After restricting 8th ranked Sri Lanka to 122/6 at the conclusion of 20 overs, Australia lost 2 quick wickets courtesy of some magic from left arm seamer Udeshika Prabodhani who found the timber on both occasions to dismiss Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner as she managed to deliver two perfect inswingers to the dangerous Australian top order batters.
Then, all-rounder Shashikala Siriwardene joined the party with her loopy off-spinners to send back Beth Mooney to the dressing room, leaving Australia at 3/10 in the 4th over.
Skipper Meg Lanning and Rachel Haynes had the responsibility of guiding the hosts out of trouble and they did just that, thanks to some disappointing fielding efforts from Sri Lanka who gifted more than 3 lifelines to the two batters. Lanning and Haynes combined for 95 runs in just 83 balls, scoring 41* and 60 respectively.
The hosts reached the target in the last over of the match with 5 wickets in hand, keeping their semi-final hopes alive in the tournament.
Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Atapattu raced to a 37-ball half century against her favourite opposition, again carrying the weight of the country on her shoulders. Atapattu hit 7 boundaries and 2 sixes on her way to the 2nd half century of her T20I career.
Atapattu’s last 8 international innings vs Australia
178*, 113, 16, 30, 13, 14, 103, 50
She was ably assisted by the 18-year-old Umesha Thimashini who was playing just her 6th T20I with a run-a-ball 20. But after the pair’s dismissals, the Sri Lanka innings was slowed down as they crawled to 122 at the cost of 6 wickets in 20 overs with the lack of power hitters in the batting line-up.
With this defeat, Sri Lanka’s chances of qualifying for the semifinals of the tournament became thinner and they will face India in their next assignment on 29th February at Junction Oval, Melbourne.
