Sri Lanka scorched to the mark of 131 with 27 balls and nine wickets remaining against Ireland, with captain Chamari Athapaththu's ruthless 106 off 61 balls. It was brutal from beginning to end, and Athapaththu's fourth T20I century was her first in a World Cup. She had concluded the innings with an equally dominant stroke through the same area after starting it with a brilliant boundary through cover.
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| Sri Lanka got off to a fast start thanks to Chamari Athapaththu |
Thanks in large part to a 59 off 50 from their own captain, Gaby Lewis, Ireland had recovered from a bad start to register 130 for 5. But in this mindset, Athapaththu was too strong for their bowlers, and only Orla Prendergast could make a breakthrough by getting rid of opener Imesha Dulani.
To maintain even their slim chances of qualifying for the semi-finals, Sri Lanka has to drastically increase their net run rate. With Scotland yet to play and other games still in the group, Athapaththu's innings has increased their NRR to less than negative.
Athapaththu lets loose
Athapaththu had referred to herself as a failure after the depressing defeat to the West Indies since she had never guided Sri Lanka to a World Cup semifinal. (However, she is the only captain to guide Sri Lanka to victory in the Asia Cup.) She appeared determined to at least keep Sri Lanka in the tournament during this innings. In the powerplay, she hit eight more boundaries, particularly the legside boundary, after drilling her first ball through cover.
When the pitch returned, she hardly slowed down. She continued to hammer Ireland's bowlers, reaching 50 off the 29th ball she faced. In the ninth over, she hit her career's 100th slog-swept six off Cara Murray. Her favoured hitting zones were the square leg, cover, and straight sections. Despite Prendergast's intermittent attempts to slow her down, she lionised Strike throughout, reaching triple figures off the 58th delivery she faced. She had scored 79% of Sri Lanka's runs by the end of their innings.
Gaby Lewis brings Ireland back to life
Ireland didn't score a run off the bat until the fourteenth ball of the innings. They had already lost two wickets by that point. Lewis found her timing when Rebecca Stokell was dismissed in the fifth over, despite Stokell's attempts to startle Ireland with boundaries down the ground. Throughout her innings, she continued to have success with the pull shot after hitting her first boundary, a pulled four, off the final ball of the powerplay. On the off side, she was equally powerful in the square of the wicket.
Leah Paul, who smashed 20 off 41, joined her in a 66-run fourth-wicket partnership. After Paul was dismissed, Lewis reached a half-century, although by British standards, he was clearly exhausted from the effort in hot weather. Alice Tector helped Ireland give the innings a last push with 28 off 21, but she faded late in the innings.
Once more, Kaushini excels behind the stumps
Kaushini Nuthyangana, the wicketkeeper-batter from Sri Lanka, has been having a fantastic campaign thus far and has quickly established herself in this game. Nuthyangana caught Amy Hunter centimetres short by swooping on the ball, turning, and throwing down the stumps as Ireland's openers took off for a leg bye in the first over. She also anticipated a scoop from Leah Paul, which she intercepted to take another wicket out of the air following a simple stumping to remove Prendergast.
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