Chamari Atapattu’s 12th ODI half century was overshadowed by a brilliant batting display by Suzie Bates and Amy Satterthwaite as the pair guided New Zealand to a 9 wicket win over 8th ranked Sri Lanka in the teams’ opening fixture of the ICC Women’s World Cup in Bristol a short while ago.
After being asked to bat by Kiwi skipper Bates, the Lankan openers Nipuni Hansika and Chamari Polgampola got the Lankans off to a solid start, progressing to 43/0 at the end of the 1st ten overs. The pair seemed to be going well against the New Zealand quicks but things got tough once 16 year old Amelia Kerr was brought into the attack. The leg spinner made the breakthrough to bring Atapattu to the crease. Although sedate, Atapattu and Polgampola managed to get Sri Lanka into a good position, putting on 92 runs for the 2nd wicket. Polgampola played the played second fiddle to the more aggressive Atapattu and would be disappointed to have missed out on a half century as she fell for 49. Once Atapattu (53) and Polgampola were dismissed within 3 overs of each other another batting collapse occurred as the Lankans looked for quick runs nearing the end of the innings. Apart from the top 3, only Shashikala Siriwardene (16) was able to make it to double figures as Sri Lanka ended with 188 in their 50 overs.
The Kiwis were sloppy in the field to start off, but picked themselves up to put on an impressive display in the latter part of the innings. Medium pacer Holly Huddleston picked up the 3rd 5 wicket haul o her career to end with figures of 5/35.
Quick wickets were the order of the day for Sri Lanka and left arm spinner Chandima Gunaratne obliged by trapping Rachel Priest right in front in just the 6th over of the game. The Lankan bowlers kept things quiet for a while but just could not make any more inroads into the New Zealand batting line-up as Suzie Bates and Amy Satterthwaite ran amok once they’d settled in. The pair put on an unbroken 170 runs for the 2nd wicket with Bates making a magnificent century and Satterthwaite finishing on 78 as New Zealand ended the game with 9 wickets and 74 deliveries to spare.
Sri Lanka will next face World Number 1 Australia on Thursday 29th of June.
