Sri Lanka notch first win in Women’s ODI Tri-Series

Saturday, 3 May 2025 00:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Madara, Harshitha and Kavisha the match winners

Player of the Match Harshitha Samarawickrama and Kaveesha Dilhari during their match-winning partnership

Masabata Klaas (right) congratulates Annerie Derckson on her reaching 50

Sri Lanka notched up their first win of the Women’s ODI Tri-Series when they beat South Africa by five wickets at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

What was more pleasing was that the win came on the back of their skipper Chamari Athapaththu not contributing a big score. Sri Lanka chased down a target of 236 which was their fourth highest successful run chase in WODI.

Hasini Perera opening the batting made a contribution of 42 off 55 balls (6 fours) but it was the partnership between Harshitha Samarawickrama and Kavisha Dilhari that gave Sri Lanka the win. They added a record 128 for the fourth wicket which was Sri Lanka highest for that wicket beating 111 between Chamari Athapaththu and Hasini Perera. The pair kept out the good balls, turned the strike over and struck the boundaries off the loose ones. Laura Wolvaardt, the South African Captain tried 7 options with the ball but couldn’t break the stand between Harshitha who went onto take the Player of the Match award with 77 off 93 balls (8 fours) and Dilhari who contributed 61 off 75 balls (6 fours, 1 six). South Africa fielded well like they always do but were lacking firepower with the ball. It was South Africa’s second defeat in the tri-series having lost to India in their opening game.

Earlier, Athapaththu won the toss and inserted South Africa into bat and they responded with 235-9 which was not a bad score on a dry surface. Sri Lanka got off to a good start as Tazmin Brits and Wolvaardt departed early. Karabo Meso also couldn’t get going and perished and South Africa were struggling at 59-3. Lara Goodall (46) and Sunne Luus (31) got together and kept the scoreboard ticking. Goodall chanced her arms and struck some boundaries but she was lucky as well as she was dropped twice. The debutant, Dewmi Vihanga, struck twice in quick succession to change the flow of the game once again as both the set batters departed. A 62-run stand between Chloe Tryon and Annerie Dercksen gave some momentum to South Africa. Dercksen in particular batted with a lot of composure and raised a fifty (61* off 60 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) to take her side to a competitive score. Malki Madara playing in only her second WODI and Vihanga were the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka. They finished with a 4-fer and a 3-fer respectively. If not for those missed opportunities in the field, Sri Lanka would have been chasing a much lower total.

Scores: South Africa Women 235-9 (50) (Lara Goodall 46, Sune Luus 31, Chloe Tryon 35, Annerie Derckson 61*, Malki Madara 4/50, Dewmi Vihanga 3/41)

Sri Lanka Women 237-5 (Hasini Perera 42, Vishmi Gunaratne 29, Harshitha Samarawickrama 77, Kavisha Dilhari 61, Nonkululeko Mlaba 2/44)

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