Chamari Athpaththu hit her 15th half-century, while Oshadi Ranasinghe picked up Sri Lanka’s 1st 5-wicket haul in 20 years to help the hosts to a 58-run win against Bangladesh in the 2nd ODI.
It didn’t look like we would get a game, with the heavy rainfall Sri Lanka had seen during the past couple of weeks which had forced the abandonment of the 1st and 2nd ODI (which was originally scheduled for the 2nd of May). However, despite a delay, the match commenced at 1.15pm local time, reduced to 30 overs aside.
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat, skipper Athapaththu did away the experiment of batting at No. 3, opening this time alongside Vishmi Gunaratne. Athapaththu took her time getting going, but once she had been there for a couple of overs, managed to keep finding the boundary every over, putting together a 50-run partnership for the 1st wicket alongside Gunaratne.
Things were looking ominous for Bangladesh when Athapaththu hit 4 sixes and 2 fours from over no. 14-17, but Sultana Khatun had the last laugh as the off-spinner trapped the lefthander in front for a well-made 64.
The challenge was now on the Sri Lankan middle order to not only rebuild, but keep scoring quickly. Harshitha Samarawickrama and Kaveesha Dilhari stepped up for Sri Lanka. Samarwickrama steadied things with 45 off 48 before Dilhari hit 25 off 15, including 3 fours and six off the last over, to push the score beyond the 180-run mark.
With the required rate hovering over a run-a-ball, things were never going to be easy for the visitors and they just got more challenging when they lost big-hitting Shamima Sultana in the 2nd over; she became Ranasinghe’s 1st victim.
Bangladesh lost 3 quick wickets early, but skipper Nigar Sultana and Fargana Hoque rebuilt, with a 66-run partnership before Athapaththu brought the much-needed breakthrough, Sultana well-caught in the deep by Dilhari.
Ranasinghe then came back to end the Bangladeshi’s chances, picking up the wickets of Hoque, Ritu Moni and Sultana Khatun in 2 overs. The off-spinner’s 5-wicket-haul was just the 3rd by a Sri Lankan in Women’s ODIs and their 1st since 2003, when Sandamali Dolawatte picked up 5/16 vs the West Indies.
The win, Sri Lanka’s 2nd in the ICC Women’s Championship, gives them 2 valuable points, taking them from 8th to 7th pace on the table, leapfrogging Bangladesh.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chamari Athapaththu | lbw b Sultana Khatun | 64 | 60 | 6 | 4 | 106.67 |
| Vishmi Gunaratne | c Jahanara Alam b Ritu Moni | 17 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 56.67 |
| Harshitha Samarawickrama | not out | 45 | 48 | 1 | 2 | 93.75 |
| Nilakshi de Silva | lbw b Fahima Khatun | 11 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 68.75 |
| Anushka Sanjeewani | c Fargana Hoque Pinky b Nahida Akter | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 109.09 |
| Kavisha Dilhari | c Nahida Akter b Jahanara Alam | 25 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 166.67 |
| Extras | 12 (b 1 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 10, pen 0) |
| Total | 186/5 (30 Overs, RR: 6.2) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jahanara Alam | 6 | 0 | 47 | 1 | 7.83 | |
| Sultana Khatun | 6 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 3.67 | |
| Nahida Akter | 6 | 0 | 36 | 1 | 6.00 | |
| Ritu Moni | 6 | 1 | 39 | 1 | 6.50 | |
| Fahima Khatun | 6 | 0 | 40 | 1 | 6.67 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shamima Sultana | c Nilakshi de Silva b Oshadi Ranasinghe | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 83.33 |
| Murshida Khatun | lbw b Sugandika Kumari | 16 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Sobhana Mostary | c Nilakshi de Silva b Oshadi Ranasinghe | 11 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 157.14 |
| Nigar Sultana | c Kavisha Dilhari b Chamari Athapaththu | 37 | 51 | 1 | 2 | 72.55 |
| Fargana Hoque Pinky | c Harshitha Madavi b Oshadi Ranasinghe | 24 | 46 | 2 | 0 | 52.17 |
| Ritu Moni | c Vishmi Gunaratne b Oshadi Ranasinghe | 9 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 81.82 |
| Nahida Akter | b Inoka Ranaweera | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 70.00 |
| Sultana Khatun | c Kavisha Dilhari b Oshadi Ranasinghe | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Fahima Khatun | not out | 9 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 90.00 |
| Jahanara Alam | b Udeshika Prabodhani | 4 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Lata Mondal | retired | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 5 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 4, pen 0) |
| Total | 128/10 (29.5 Overs, RR: 4.29) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Udeshika Prabodhani | 3.5 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 4.29 | |
| Oshadi Ranasinghe | 6 | 0 | 34 | 5 | 5.67 | |
| Sugandika Kumari | 6 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 3.33 | |
| Inoka Ranaweera | 6 | 1 | 16 | 1 | 2.67 | |
| Kavisha Dilhari | 4 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 7.50 | |
| Chamari Athapaththu | 4 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 3.00 | |
