Sri Lanka continued their winning run with a comfortable 75-run victory over Indonesia in their second Women’s Asia Cup fixture on Wednesday (September 2).
Indonesia opted to bowl, and for the first hour, had the upper hand over Sri Lanka.
She fell the next ball, but Sri Lanka had enough to get to 124/7, par for the average first innings total in the event so far.
Indonesia began positively, forcing Sri Lanka to remove any close-in fielders, but the introduction of spin slowed them down.
She nabbed Ariani, Maypriani and Paramitha to secure the first Women’s T20I hat-trick for Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka continued their winning run with a comfortable 75-run victory over Indonesia in their second Women’s Asia Cup fixture on Wednesday (September 2).
Sri Lanka made a remarkable recovery from 62/6, working their way to 124/7 largely due to Nilakshika Silva, who struck her third T20I fifty from No.6. Then, captain Chamari Athapaththu skittled Indonesia with an astonishing, career-best 7/5, her first five-fer in international cricket, and the best for a Sri Lankan in T20Is. She snapped up the last three wickets to hastily end the innings, securing a hat-trick.
Indonesia opted to bowl, and for the first hour, had the upper hand over Sri Lanka.
Their first punch came in the second over, when Ni Ariani snuck one through to Imesha Dulani’s stumps, compensating for an early drop. A couple of boundaries followed, as Chamari Athapaththu and Sanjana Kavindi looked to reset themselves. But Indonesia’s spinners kept striking back. By the eighth over, they were down to 36/4, struggling against accurate bowling and, at times, low bounce.
But Nilakshika Silva held on to one end, even if it meant a prolonged boundary-less period. None came in a 43-ball stretch, but Sri Lanka managed to crawl up to 68/6. By the 17th over, they had added 21 more runs. Eager for runs, Silva repeatedly shuffled across the stumps to use the shorter side.
She then opened up, using the depth of the crease and punching a couple of fours off Ariani. A reverse scoop came out soon after, followed by a six off her pads, bringing up her fifty. She fell the next ball, but Sri Lanka had enough to get to 124/7, par for the average first innings total in the event so far.
Indonesia began positively, forcing Sri Lanka to remove any close-in fielders, but the introduction of spin slowed them down. Athapaththu struck first, rattling lefty opener Pangestuti’s stumps. Sugandika targeted the stumps too and sent Dewi back in her second over.
Athapaththu then tore through further, picking two in two with her nippy off spin, which was followed by a silent period of play. With runs barely trickling, Wulandari was castled by Dilhari, to leave Indonesia reeling at 29/5 after 10.
Exactly one boundary came between the second over and the 15th, as the runs dried up significantly thereafter. Then came Athapaththu’s second round of attack, more devastating than the first. She nabbed Ariani, Maypriani and Paramitha to secure the first Women’s T20I hat-trick for Sri Lanka.
