Chamari Athapaththu’s Record-Equalling Ton Leads Sri Lanka to a Dominant 144-Run Victory
A stunning century from Chamari Athapaththu propels Sri Lanka to a commanding 144 runs victory over Malaysia in the Women’s Asia Cup match played in Dambulla.
Athapaththu tied the record with the most T20I centuries during this incredible inning. Chasing 185, 15-year-old Shashini Gimhani took 3 for 9 and Malaysia were all out for 40.
Malaysia 40 (Hunter 10, Gimhani 3-9) lost to Sri Lanka 184 for 4 (Athapaththu 119*, Duraisingam 2-34) by a margin of 144 runs.
Additionally, 15-year-old ambidextrous wristspinner Shashini Gimhani had a dream performance. Using her left-arm wristspin, she went 3 for 9 in the powerplay, sending Malaysia into a tailspin from which they were unable to recover, meaning it was one-way traffic the entire time.
In the second over, Vishmi Gunaratne, who had scored half a century in Sri Lanka’s victory against Bangladesh, was dismissed for just one run as she chipped a check drive to short cover. Athapaththu, however, continued to occasionally store the loose balls, so it rarely had any influence on him. A string of mistakes made by the Malaysian fielders also proved to be helpful to her.
After hitting back-to-back boundaries in the sixth over, Athapaththu lifted Sri Lanka’s half-century in the following over. Throughout the most of the first part, Athapaththu’s grace rather than her signature ferocity, was the main attraction.
Despite having very little pace on the ball, she occasionally found ways to get wide beyond the line for flicks and sweeps, giving Harshitha Samarawickrama some room to breathe and get her game together during a second-wicket stand that saw 64 runs scored.
Athapaththu reached her half-century off 35 balls in the eleventh over after hitting back-to-back sixes off her opposite number, Winifred Duraisingam. It seemed as though Sri Lanka wasn’t quite out of third gear even at that point. On 56, Athapaththu was given a lifeline when Dhanusri Muhunan put her down at backward point during the 12th over. That was what set her off in a completely other direction.
With 11 overs remaining, Sri Lanka reached 99 for 2, up from 85 for 2. Athapaththu scored 68 runs on her own, most of which came in the final three overs. Athapaththu, who was unbeaten on 76 off 57 at the conclusion of the 17th over, smashed five sixes and one four in the final three overs. This includes the first-ever century in the history of the Women’s Asia Cup, two consecutive sixes off Aisya Eleesa’s military medium to raise the score to 19 runs.
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Athapaththu operated in a straightforward manner. Muscle the ball into the arc from long-on to deep midwicket after clearing the front leg. Due to their extreme lack of depth, Malaysia played most of the second half against Athapaththu with very little protection on the leg side boundary.
In their 115-run stand off just 62 balls, Anushka Sanjeewani had the finest seat in the house. Sanjeewani’s own part in it was 24 minus 31. Other than taking their opening wicket, Duraisingham’s two consecutive wickets to conclude the innings was the only consolation for Malaysia.
To give every member of the squad a chance to play in the run-up to the T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka made four changes, including the addition of Gimhani. And with her left-arm wristspin, she answered, taking three wickets, including two in two overs during the powerplay.
Gimhani was not scared to toss the ball up and gave it lots of revs. Sure, the opposition wasn’t the best to test her, but three wickets in nine overs will give her more confidence. Malaysia’s chase never got off the ground and got worse from 17 for 3 in the sixth over. As Malaysia was bowled out for 40 in the last over, Aina Najwa bravely batted out 43 balls for her nine.
Among Gimhani’s three victims was Elsa Hunter, who scored the only two boundaries of the Malaysian innings.
