PREVIEW
By Srian Obeyesekers
Sri Lanka Women will carry the blot of curtain raiser loss to India confronting defending champions Australia tomorrow basking in an unbeaten near invincible insulation chasing a record eighth world cup, but this will be the best opportunity for Chamari Athapaththu’s team to crack the tournament top favourites in familiar own backyard terrain in the hub of Colombo’s R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium driven by a nippy bowling attack to exploit a receptive wicket backed by a vociferous home crowd..
Going by india’s tripping over for a good part of the innings, the Lankan attack was quite forceful judging by the bite generated despite that defeat India having wriggled out, which makes Sri Lanka’s bowlers led by 4 for 46 spin veteran Inoka Ranaweera, and nippy prime fast bowler Lokusuriya, the key to breaking Australia’s running invincibility bordering on a tip top batting nucleus.
Indeed, the very body language the Lankan bowlers and fielders displayed in staggering India to 124 for 6 uprooting the strong batting frontline mainly Mandhana for 8 and Rodriguez for a duck, is certainly symbolic hot tonic the Lankans do possess of terriers in that fold to crack the strong Aussie line up.
That Sri Lanka’s victory hopes hinge hugely on key batter Skipper Chamari Athapaththu to deliver with the bat was evident versus India losing her wicket at a decisive stage with Sri Lanka on 82 putting paid to reaching the tall 271 target with the rest losing their way after the skipper was bowled when well set by an apparent rush of blood which should serve as a lesson not to be pressurised by the situation and importantly keep her wicket intact.
Athapaththu’s century strong pedigree best showcased by an epic unbeaten 178 against the very strong arm of the game Australia at the 2017 world cup in their own backyard is her pride of the great batter she is having led the rest in ICC player rankings. A license that she has everything ing her to repeat those gigantic feats in own backyard when it matters most where keeping one end going will be vital to Sri Lanka picking up itself.
The iceberg to go past boasts of an impregnable Aussie pack fire powered by an awesome batting unit in skipper Alyssa Healy, prime star Beth Mooney though fighting a low patch and Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll while counting an all-round pack at the helm of which is Ashleigh Gardner backed by an equally equitable bowling unit.
On paper, the Lankans must break a head to head unbeaten Australian dominance over the years.
But they can take heart by the fact that they have raised their game by quite a stretch despite losing to India to breaking Australia’s invincibility.
