Prabodhani and Gunaratne Lead Sri Lanka to Victory Over Bangladesh in Women’s Asia Cup 2024
Stunning performances from Prabodhani, Gunaratne propels Sri Lanka to victory over Bangladesh in the Women’s Asia Cup 2024.
Vishmi Gunaratne’s solid half-century and an outstanding all-around performance from Sri Lanka on the field helped the country win their first Women’s Asia Cup 2024 match against Bangladesh by seven wickets in Dambulla.
Bangladesh 111 for 8 (Nigar 48*, Shorna 25, Priyadharshani 2-17, Prabodhani 2-20) lost to Sri Lanka 114 for 3 (Gunaratne 51, Samarawickrama 33, Nahida 3-12) by seven wickets.
Bangladesh lost four wickets in the powerplay after choosing to bat, which was the culmination of all that might go wrong for them. To get Bangladesh to 111 for 8, it took an anchoring performance from captain Nigar Sultana and some lower-order hitting from Shorna Akter, who hammered 25 off 14 balls.
Although Sri Lanka lost their skipper Chamari Athapaththu early in the pursuit, they have often demonstrated this year that they are a squad composed of more than just one lady. Gunaratne, who is having an incredible 2024, kept up her good form and hammered her third half-century in T20I, having scored three this year.
Harshitha Samarawickrama provided her with excellent support as Sri Lanka crossed the finish line with 17 balls remaining. As a result, Bangladesh’s 2024 T20I losing streak increased to nine games.
Bangladesh got off to a promising start as Dilara Akter lofted Udeshika Prabodhani for a straight four with the opening ball. But after that, everything became worse. After two balls, Prabodhani went fuller, causing Dilara’s stumps to get messed up and getting the ball to tail back.
Rubya Haider weakly chipped a drive to the right of cover-point on the very next ball she faced, but Nilakshika Silva made a great catch by racing back and diving sideways.
Ishma Tanjim’s debut was short lived as she gave Inoshi Priyadharshani a routine catch to backward point in just three balls. Bangladesh was reduced to 8 for 3 in just nine deliveries, but Priyadharshani’s spectacular return catch made them 17 for 4 in the sixth over.
Ritu Moni leaped over the railing and forcefully struck a length ball to Priyadharshani’s right. Despite her elbow hitting the turf, she managed to hang onto the ball with her extended right hand. When Bangladesh’s powerplay finished on 18 for 4, Moni was taken aback.
Nigar bore the duty of leading Bangladesh ahead. She had a sluggish start, scoring just six runs off of her first 18 balls. After ten overs, Bangladesh reached 46 for 4, when Shorifa Khatun fell victim to the pressure. Sensing that she might break free from the restraints, Athapaththu maintained a length ball slow on off stump. When Shorifa accepted the bait and looked at an across-the-line hack, she was startled and left off-target.
After hitting a four to start the innings, Sugandika Kumari trapped Rabeya Khan for ten runs right in front of the stumps. Bangladesh’s chances of reaching 100 appeared grim at 67 for 6 after 15.
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Bangladesh finally gained the much-needed impetus thanks to the blade of 17-year-old Shorna. She slog-swept Athapaththu for four more runs after thrashing Priyadharshani through midwicket. After that, Shorna hit three consecutive fours off Kavisha Dilhari, bringing Bangladesh dangerously near to 100. Her fourth boundary try, however, was unsuccessful as Silva made a fine catch again, this time at long-on.
Over on the other end, Nigar kept things moving. Prior to Nigar hitting two fours off Prabodhani in the 20th over, Bangladesh achieved 100 in the 19th. Even though Bangladesh scored 44 runs in the final five overs, 111 against a strong Sri Lankan team was never going to be sufficient.
In the past, Sri Lanka has frequently paid a heavy price for their over-reliance on Athapaththu. But Gunaratne, her captain falling early, maintained her composure. Against Nahida Akter, Athapaththu opened with a six over deep midwicket but was unable to clear long-on shortly after.
But Gunaratne managed to keep Sri Lanka on course. She started off by hitting Marufa wide of long-on with a four over mid-off. After the powerplay, as Sri Lanka accelerated toward the goal, Gunaratne hit five fours in the three overs. Her running between the wickets was the highlight of her innings. She tapped and fled when the borders didn’t materialize.
Samarawickrama gave her excellent support. Together, they put up 54 runs in 48 balls for the second wicket, keeping Bangladesh out of the game entirely. During her innings, Gunaratne performed a reverse sweep seven times, reaching her fifty runs mark.
By the time Nahida tidied up her innings of 51 off 48, Sri Lanka only required 26 off 37 balls. After that, Samarawickrama assumed the role, and together with Dilhari, they reduced the target to single digits with three fours in a Shorna over. Dilhari then completed the chase with a four over mid-off.
Nahida finished with three wickets for twelve from her four overs, taking all three wickets for Bangladesh.
