Spirited Lankan women’s efforts go to waste in the final over

After a whitewash in the T20 series the new look Sri Lankan women’s outfit gave a good fight to the Proteas before an excellent final over by Marizanne Klapp gave the South African women a thrilling 6 run victory.

A rain delayed start reduced the 1^st ODI of the ICC Women’s Championship at Potchefstroom to 48 overs per side as Lankan skipper Chamari Attapattu elected to put the Proteas to bat first. Veteran left arm seamer Udeshika Prabodhani struck in her very first over as the Lioness’ opened their account with a roar.

South Africa seal the series despite Sri Lanka’s valiant fight

Sri Lanka women lost the 2nd match of the T20I series by 2 wickets…

Prabodhani’s attacking bowling routine reaped great rewards as she left the South African women’s team at bay restricting them to 29 for the loss of 2 wickets by the end of the mandatory power play overs . Proteas skipper Dane van Niekerk held the innings together as her watchful innings took South Africa past the one hundred run mark by the 25^th over. The Lankan bowlers were very good in the field and the ball restricting the free flow of runs. Andrie Steyn together with Niekerk posted an important 137 run 3^rd wicket partnership in the middle overs before Inoka Ranaweera trapped Steyn on 75 at her crease.

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Niekerk went on to score a match saving 102 runs off 117 deliveries which proved nothing but a responsible captain’s knock. The Proteas posted a decent score of 225 for the loss of 7 wickets in their allocated 48 overs.

Chasing a target of 225 the Lankan women got off to a fantastic start as openers Anushka Sanjeewani and Prasadani Weerakkody took Sri Lanka to the fifty run mark in just 49 balls. Nierkerk was back in the game as the wrist spinner caught Sanjeewani LBW in the 11^th over.

The Lankans still had a very healthy run rate but kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Shashikala Siriwardene once again was Sri Lanka’s liberator as she gave the Lankans some hope in the match. Siriwardene was sadly dismissed for 49 with the Lankans needing exactly another 49 runs off 38 balls.

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Two suicidal run outs involving Prasadani Weerakkody and Achini Kulasuriya hurt the Lankan outfit as the Proteas were back again in the competition. A stubborn Nilakshi De Silva batted her way through to give Sri Lanka a chance as she took Sri Lanka inches close to the finish line. De Silva reduced the aggregate of 22 runs off 12 deliveries to 12 runs off 6 deliveries. 12 runs off the final over was a bit too much to ask for but with De Silva facing the music in the middle Lanka were hopeful.  Marizanne Klapp held her nerve in the final six deliveries conceding only 4 runs off the final over as South Africa cruised to a famous seven run win.