Wednesday Jul 08, 2026
Wednesday Jul 08, 2026
Tuesday, 30 June 2026 05:08 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Skipper Chamari Athapaththu consoles Nilakshika Silva after Sri Lanka were eliminated from the Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Well, the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England is done and dusted for all the teams in the subcontinent with none of them being able to make it to the semi-finals.
India’s loss to Australia at Lord’s was the last straw after Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan had all bowed out before Sunday’s clash.
Sri Lanka arrived in England with a lot of hope of making it to the semi-finals. They lost their opening encounter against the host country England very badly which dented their net run rate that was to later play a crucial role in their elimination.
The loss to West Indies was a hard pill to swallow. They had only three months back beaten West Indies in the Caribbean sweeping the three-match T20I series 2-0 with one no-result. And it was with this confidence they approached the World Cup game against the West Indies. But nothing went right for Sri Lanka. They lost their top three batters – Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama for nine runs inside the first three overs of the powerplay. It was too big a setback to recover from and they were bowled out for 98.
Chamari took it upon herself the blame for her team’s loss to the West Indies which robbed them of a place in the semi-finals and candidly said that she had been a failure as a captain.
But former England captain Nasser Hussain saw Chamari’s statement in a different light.
Hussain told the ICC in an interview: “It depends on how you define failure. The bigger picture is the inspiration of Chamari Athapaththu. I was in Sri Lanka last year doing a feature and there are literally thousands and thousands of young women and girls that are playing cricket because of Chamari Athapaththu, a role model, a legend, a player that has just been so consistent over the years.”
“And what’s the best way to recover from a loss and being so down is to go out the next game at Bristol, where she loves batting and smashing a hundred. And that’s the best way again not only to pick yourself up, but to inspire the next generation.”
“I think she’ll not realise how important she’s been for Sri Lankan cricket until she’s retired, and 10 years’ time she switches on her TV and someone is smashing a hundred for Sri Lanka and some young woman, and me or you, if we’re still around will interview and say, “Why did you take up cricket?” And they say, ‘Chamari Athapaththu’. And that’s not failure for me, that’s inspirational.”
Chamari has the chance of one more tilt at winning an ICC title when Sri Lanka hosts the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy next year from 14-28 February.
Also, Sri Lanka by finishing third in their group have gained automatic qualification to play in the next ICC Women’s T20 World Cup scheduled for 2028 in Pakistan. The top four teams of each of the two groups secured their spots for the next edition. Pakistan although finishing fifth qualified as being the tournament hosts.
