Chamari Athapaththu 3/21 and 44 leads from the front for Player of the Match & Player of the Series awards

By Srian Obeyesekere

Skipper Chamari Athapaththu produced a lusty all-round display as Sri Lanka Women pulled trounced England Women by 7 wickets with 18 balls to spare to register a historic 2-1 T20 series defeat over the world’s No.2 ranked side in their own backyard in yesterday’s D/N at the County Ground, Derby.

Athapaththu took 3 wickets for 21 as their opponents, put into bat, were shot out for 116 in 19 overs, and bludgeoned her way to 44 off 28 balls packed with 5 boundaries and 2 sixes in chasing down 117 in champagne style. She fell 6 short of her second half century in the landmark triumph which boosted No.8 ranked Sri Lanka’s image. When the Lankan skipper departed with the score a whirlwind 65 off just 6.4 overs to a catch by Charlie Dean off Alice Capsey, the job was good as accomplished. One drop Harshitha Samarawickrama remained unbeaten on 26 off 28 with the solitary boundary, and Hasini Perera on 9. Anushka Sanjeewani scored 20 off 16 hitting a boundary.

The 33-year-old Lankan skipper capped the thrashing handed out to the favourites in what marked the first ever bilateral T20 defeat to a side other than Australia since 2010 by taking the double honours of Player of the Match as well as Player of the Series.

England’s top scorer was Maia Boucher with 23 off 18 inclusive of 4 boundaries. Athapaththu received great support from Udeshika Prabodhani and Kavisha Dilhari who took 2 wickets each respectively.

The Lankan lasses will be buoyed by the triumph going into Saturday’s 3-match ODI series starting in Durham.

CHIEF SCORES:

England Women 116 (19 Overs)

(Maia Boucher 23, Heather Knight 18, Danielle Gibson 21, Sarah Glenn n.o. 16, Chamari Athapaththu 3/21, Udeshika Prabodhani 2/16, Kavisha Dilhari 2/16, Inoshi Priyadharshani 1/15, Inoka Ranaweera 1/20)

Sri Lanka Women 117/3 (17 Overs)

(Chamari Athapaththu 44, Anushka Sanjeewani 20, Hrshitha Smarawickrama n.o. 26, Hasini Perera n.o. 9, Sarah Glenn 2/23, Alice Capsey 1/21)