Australia Women thump Sri Lanka by record margin

Thursday, 29 September 2016 00:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

in-1 ESPN Cricinfo: A dominant Australia Women side thumped Sri Lanka Women by ten wickets in the one-off T20I in Colombo, chasing down a target of 60 with 71 balls to spare, the largest margin of victory (by balls remaining) in women’s T20 cricket. Australia, who had swept the preceding ODI series 4-0, bettered the record of 70 balls set by New Zealand in 2010.

Put in to bat, Sri Lanka struggled from the outset, extending their poor form shown during the one-day series. In the middle stage, between the 11th and 14th overs, the team lost five wickets for eight runs, before labouring to 59 for 8. Kristen Beams, who had returns of 3 for 11, took all her wickets during that slide, and also dismissed Eshani Lokusuriyage and Ama Kanchana off successive deliveries in the 13th over. Beams was the top wicket-taker in the ODI series with 13 dismissals.

Sri Lanka lost five batsmen to Australia’s spinners - Beams, Jess Jonassen and Erin Osborne - and two to run-outs. Opener Lasanthi Madushani top-scored with 17, and the next best score was 8 from No. 10 batsman Inoka Ranaweera.

Openers Beth Mooney and Elyse Villani struck 55 in the Powerplay, and took another 13 balls to wrap up the win. Australia captain Meg Lanning missed the game due to an illness and Alex Blackwell led the side in her place.

Chief Scores: Australia Women 63 for 0 (Villani 34*, Mooney 29*) beat Sri Lanka Women 59 for 8 (Beams 3-11) by 10 wickets