Sri Lanka outclassed Malaysia in all departments to secure a comfortable win in their second game of the Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2024 played today (22nd July) at Dambulla International Cricket Stadium.
Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka got off to a shaky start as they lost their in-form batter Vishmi Gunaratne for just 1 run in the second over of the match.
>>Gunaratne & Bowlers steer Sri Lanka to winning start<<
The skipper Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama steadied the innings, adding 64 runs for the second wicket before the latter was bowled by Mahirah Ismail for 26 runs.
Athapathtu and Anushka Sanjeewani took the control of the game onto their hands as they built a 115-run partnership in just 62 balls.
Athapaththu went onto score her third century in T20Is, smashing 119 runs off 69 balls with 14 fours and 7 sixes at a strike rate of 172.46. This century goes into the record books as the first-ever century scored in Women’s T20 Asia Cup history.
Sanjeewani also contributed with useful 31 runs off 24 balls with 4 fours as the hosts posted a commanding total – 184/4 on the board.
In their turn with the ball, the hosts displayed a brilliant bowling performance to restrict the Malaysian batting lineup for just 40 runs.
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Shashini Gimhani was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka as she grabbed 3 wickets for 9 runs in her 4-over spell. Kavisha Dilhari and Kawya Kavindi also snared 2 wickets each for the hosts.
Sri Lanka will meet Thailand in their third and final Group stage game of the competition on the 24th July at the same venue.
Brief Scores
Sri Lanka – 184/4 (20) Chamari Athapaththu 119*, Anushka Sanjeewani 31, Harshitha Samarawickrama 26, Winifred Duraisingam 2/34
Malaysia – 40 (19.5) Shashini Gimhani 3/9, Kavisha Dilhari 2/4, Kawya Kavindi 2/7
Result – Sri Lanka won by 144 runs
 at Dambulla International Cricket Stadium.){kind=link}