Dominant Sri Lanka Secures Asia Cup Semi-Final Spot with Commanding 10 Wickets Victory Over Thailand
Sri Lanka defeated Thailand by 10 wickets and advanced to the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 semi-finals with an outstanding all-around effort spearheaded by Chamari Athapaththu and Vishmi Gunaratne.
After batting first, Thailand only managed 93, and Sri Lanka’s openers effortlessly reached the target.
Thailand 93 for 7 (Koncharoenkai 47*, Putthawong 13, Dilhari 2-13, Priyadharshani 1-10) lost to Sri Lanka 94 for 0 (Athapaththu 49*, Gunaratne 39*) by ten wickets.
Thailand was held to 93 for 7 in their 20 overs, meaning that their innings never reached a high gear while they were batting first. After that, Athapaththu and Gunaratne easily defeated the target, cruising home with 51 balls remaining. With their third straight victory, Sri Lanka emerged victorious from Group B and will now play Pakistan in the semi-final on Friday.
In comparison to their last match against Malaysia, Sri Lanka had made up to four changes to their playing XI, including the return of Hasini Perera, Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandika Kumari, and Achini Kulasuriya.
Nothing much went Thailand’s way, save for the toss. It all went wrong when they lost Nattaya Boochatham off the opening ball of the match. The lone batter from Thailand who appeared comfortable against the Sri Lankan bowlers was opener Nannapat Koncharoenkai, who carried her bat through the innings and finished on 47 off 53 balls. While five of Sri Lanka’s bowlers claimed at least one wicket, only three batters from Thailand scored in double figures.
In response, Athapaththu and Gunaratne initially showed caution before becoming more open-minded following the powerplay. While Gunaratne was still 39 not out, Athapaththu was undefeated at 49 and, in the process of her knock, became the Asia Cup’s highest run scorer.
Achini Kulasuriya, one of the four alterations in the Sri Lankan lineup, got things going with the most exquisite yorker that slid under Boochatham’s bat and slammed into off stump. After hitting back-to-back fours in the opening over, Aphisara Suwanchonrathi was bowled out shortly after mistiming Inoshi Priyadharshani to mid-on.
Thailand ended the powerplay on 28 for 2, with Koncharoenkai scoring a clean cover drive against Priyadharshani and then putting on another elegant drive past Udeshika Prabodhani. Nevertheless, Phannita Maya, who came in at No. 4, was unable to spin the stroke, even though Koncharoenkai managed to get the odd boundary.
Thailand’s innings stagnated after the powerplay, as it took Maya 14 balls to reach the boundary. Kavisha Dilhari’s incredible performance, which saw her hared across from mid-off and then dive full-stretch to complete the catch inches off the turf, brought her innings to an agonising conclusion on a miserable 18-ball 2.
Thailand faced seven overs of dot balls by the time the 10 overs were over, and they were down to 42 for 3.
After skillfully putting Athapaththu to start her batting, Chanida Sutthiruang fell off her third ball after chipping a straightforward return catch to Dilhari. Thailand found themselves stranded on 54 for 6 after 15 overs, losing Suleeporn Laomi and Suwanan Khiaoto in the process. They went five overs from 11 to 15 without reaching the fence.
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As Thailand attempted to rally for a few runs in the latter stages of the match, Thipatcha Putthawong and Koncharoenkai’s seventh-wicket stand of 28 proved to be the highest of the match. 93 was never going to be sufficient, even though they did score 39 in the final five overs, including 13 off the final.
With the exception of Hasini Perera’s mishandled catch, Koncharoenkai’s 47* was nearly faultless as she carried the Thailand innings by herself. However, the 70 dot balls from Thailand returned to haunt them.
It took just 16 runs for Sri Lanka to go to the semifinals and 48 runs to win group B. They didn’t have to work very hard to do it. It took some time for Athapaththu and Gunaratne to get comfortable. The medium pacer Sutthiruang generated enough of swing early on, but she lacked control, and the openers easily dismissed her.
After putting Boochatham over deep midwicket to start the innings, Athapaththu went after her again in her next over for a six and four. After hitting a friendly Sutthiruang full toss beyond short fine leg for her maiden four, Gunaratne sliced the bowler through point to help Sri Lanka reach 40 for 0 after six overs.
With the powerplay, both hitters stepped up a notch. In the ninth over, Athapaththu hit Onnicha Kamchomphu for a six and four respectively, while Gunaratne bowled her over long on. Maya was then faced by Athapaththu as Sri Lanka hurried to reach their objective. They won by a bye in the twelfth over. Player of the Match went to Athapaththu for her undefeated 49 and 1 for 15 with the ball.
