Chamari Athapaththu returned to International Cricket with a blazing knock of 86 against Scotland in Sri Lanka’s 1st match of the Commonwealth Games Women’s Cricket Competition Qualifiers to help her team register a 109-run win over Scotland.
Athapaththu looked in blazing hot form, perhaps bringing out all her frustration of having missed out on International Cricket since March 2020. Unfortunately for the Scottish bowlers, they bore the brunt of her anger as Sri Lanka raced to 47 off the powerplay.
The Lankan skipper spared no one on her way to a 26-ball half century and would have been eyeing her 2nd T20I century, but fell just short, stumped off a delivery way down the legside off the bowling of Abtaha Maqsood on 86 off 45 deliveries.
The innings stuttered briefly with Hasini Perera falling next ball, but vice-captain Harshitha Samarawickrama and Nilakshi de Silva gave Sri Lanka a late push of 53 in the last 5 overs; both made 23 each, going at faster than a run a ball.
Sri Lanka ended with 182/4, their highest total in Women’s T20Is.
The chase started brilliantly for the Scottish women, with the top order plundering 38 off the 1st 4 overs, but once the Sri Lankans settled into their lines, the scoring rate dropped and wickets fell at regular intervals.
20-year-old debutant Sachini Nisansala impressed with a wicket in her 1st over of international cricket and picked up a smart run-out soon after to reduce Scotland to 61/3 in 8 overs.
The 10th over turned out to be the final nail in Scotland’s coffin, with Ama Kanchana picking up both Abbi Aitken-Drummond and Ailsa Lister to end any hopes of a successful chase.
Katherine Fraser was the last wicket to fall, off the bowling of Nisansala; Lorna Jack and Ella Watson retired out as Scotland were bowled out for 73, giving Sri Lanka a massive win.
Chamari Athapaththu was named Player of the Match but graciously gave away her award to the debutant Nisansala.
Sri Lanka vs Scotland -ICC Commonwealth Games Qualifier 2022
Player of The Match: Chamari Athapaththu
Chamari graciously awarded her POM title to debutant Shachini Nisansala as a way of “Appreciating our rising star”Well done team Sri Lanka🏏 pic.twitter.com/84ictr1Di9
— Malaysia Cricket (@MalaysiaCricket) January 18, 2022
Sri Lanka’s next fixtures are as follows
- 20thJanuary 2022 – Sri Lanka vs Kenya
- 22ndJanuary 2022 – Sri Lanka vs Malaysia
- 24thJanuary 2022 – Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vishmi Rajapaksha | lbw b Katherine Fraser | 8 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 44.44 |
| Chamari Athapaththu | st Sarah Bryce b Abtaha Maqsood | 86 | 45 | 13 | 2 | 191.11 |
| Hasini Perera | run out (Rachel Slater) | 17 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 94.44 |
| Harshitha Madavi | lbw b Katie McGill | 23 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 127.78 |
| Nilakshi de Silva | not out | 23 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 143.75 |
| Ama Kanchana | not out | 11 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 183.33 |
| Extras | 14 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 1, w 13, pen 0) |
| Total | 182/4 (20 Overs, RR: 9.1) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-34 (4.3) Vishmi Rajapaksha, 2-124 (13.2) Chamari Athapaththu, 3-124 (13.3) Hasini Perera, 4-163 (18.3) Harshitha Madavi, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kathryn Bryce | 4 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| Rachel Slater | 4 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 9.75 | |
| Katherine Fraser | 4 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 6.75 | |
| Abtaha Maqsood | 4 | 0 | 43 | 1 | 10.75 | |
| Hannah Rainey | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 15.00 | |
| Abbi Aitken-Drummond | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| Katie McGill | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarah Bryce | c Nilakshi de Silva b Udeshika Prabodhani | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 183.33 |
| Ellen Watson | retired | 30 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 115.38 |
| Kathryn Bryce | b Sachini Nisansala | 9 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 112.50 |
| Katie McGill | run out (Sachini Nisansala) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Abbi Aitken-Drummond | lbw b Ama Kanchana | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 |
| Ailsa Lister | b Ama Kanchana | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Rachel Slater | run out (Kavisha Dilhari) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Katherine Fraser | b | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 120.00 |
| Hannah Rainey | b | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Abtaha Maqsood | not out | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Lorna Jack | retired | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 6 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 6, pen 0) |
| Total | 73/10 (12.1 Overs, RR: 6) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-20 (2.4) Sarah Bryce, 2-47 (5.4) Kathryn Bryce, 3-60 (7.2) Katie McGill, 4-65 (9.1) Abbi Aitken-Drummond, 5-67 (9.5) Ailsa Lister, 6-67 (10.1) Rachel Slater, 7-73 (11.5) Hannah Rainey, 8-73 (12.1) Ellen Watson, 9-73 (12.1) Katherine Fraser, 10-73 (12.1) Lorna Jack, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Udeshika Prabodhani | 3 | 0 | 25 | 2 | 8.33 | |
| Ama Kanchana | 3 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 6.67 | |
| Inoka Ranaweera | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 6.50 | |
| Sachini Nisansala | 2.1 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 4.76 | |
| Kavisha Dilhari | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2.50 | |
