Sri Lanka hold their nerve to snatch thrilling 7-run win

Hasini Perera top-scored for Sri Lanka with her maiden ODI half-century

Sri Lanka Captain Chamari Athapaththu bowled a sensational final over  

Shorna Akter ran through Sri Lanka’s middle order to finish with 3/27

Sharmin Akhter scored her 10th fifty in ODIs 

Nigar Sultana kept Bangladesh in the hunt until the final over

• Skipper Athapaththu bowls sensational final over

By Sa'adi Thawfeeq 

Sri Lanka Captain Chamari Athapaththu bowled a sensational final over to capture four wickets for one run to enable her team to snatch an unlikely seven-run win against Bangladesh in a Women’s Cricket World Cup match played at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai yesterday.

It was Sri Lanka’s first win in the tournament after three defeats and two washouts, and it put them on par with India and New Zealand with four points. Sri Lanka has only one game in hand against Pakistan on 24 October at the R. Premadasa Cricket Stadium, while India and New Zealand have two games in hand for one of them to grab the final semi-final spot.

Chasing a target of 203, Bangladesh were well on course for a win. They required 12 off 12 balls with six wickets in hand and their Captain, Nigar Sultana, batted superbly with a half-century to her name, but eventually the nerves got the better of Bangladesh. A couple of wide ball calls did not go Bangladesh’s way and that clearly upset Sultana. She batted with a lot of calmness and smartness, but in the final few overs, panic set in and that allowed a comeback route for Sri Lanka. 

There were lots of moments that could be argued till the cows came home, but in the end, it was Sri Lanka who snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Despite losing three wickets inside 15 overs, Bangladesh had a strong partnership of 82 off 120 balls between Sharmin Akhter and Sultana, but the unfortunate injury forced Akhter to retire in the 36th over (64* off 103 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) and things started to get a little nervy as the required rate kept flirting with six runs per over. A 50-run stand off 58 balls between Sultana and Shorna Akter (19) kept Bangladesh ahead. That was the case till 12 were needed off 12. Towards the end, the Lankan Vaptain took over to help seal an unlikely win for her team. 

Bangladesh needed nine off six balls but managed only one, losing four wickets—all to Athapaththu, who finished with her best figures in WODI cricket (4/42) and also completed 50 wickets in WODI to go with her 4,000 runs, which was achieved when she was batting. 

Winning the toss and batting first, Sri Lanka were strongly placed at 174-4 in 32 overs at one stage to push forward for a 270-280 total, but they managed only 202 without using their full quota of overs. Once the partnership between Player of the Match Hasini Perera and Nilakshika Silva, worth 74 off 75 balls, was broken, Sri Lanka just unravelled, losing their last six wickets for 28. They had opted to bat on a good pitch in Navi Mumbai and the batting was disappointing. As many as eight batters got out for single-digit scores and did not handle the Bangladesh spinners well at all. And all this despite the shoddy fielding performance from Bangladesh, who gave top-scorer Perera two chances in compiling her maiden half-century in WODI – 85 off 99 balls (13 fours, 1 six), which was the highlight of the innings. 

There were some other highlights in the form of Athapaththu and Silva, who failed to convert their starts into a big score. Athapaththu made 46 off 43 balls (6 fours, 2 sixes) and with her first scoring shot – a four – became the first Sri Lankan and 20th women’s player overall to pass 4,000 runs in WODIs. With Perera, she added 72 off 75 balls for the second wicket after the early loss of Gunaratne. Silva batted well for her 37 off 38 balls (1 four, 2 sixes) before a rush of blood saw her dismissal to start the downward spiral for Sri Lanka. Akhter was who got Silva’s wicket, and then went on to dismiss Anushka Sanjeewani, playing in her 50th WODI, for 2 to a poor shot, and the crucial wicket of Hasini Perera. She was the pick of the bowlers with 3/27.