Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu took seven wickets for five runs, including a hat-trick, in her side’s 75-run win over Indonesia at the Women’s T20 Asia Cup — the best bowling figures ever recorded by a Sri Lankan in women’s T20 internationals, Ada Derana reported.
It was also the first five-wicket haul of her international career.
Sri Lanka were sent in and recovered from 62 for six to post 124 for seven, with Nilakshika Silva making 50 — her third T20I half-century — after a 43-ball stretch without a boundary. Indonesia had reduced Sri Lanka to 36 for four inside eight overs.
Chasing 125, Indonesia were bowled out for 49 in 18.3 overs. Athapaththu began the collapse by bowling Pangestuti, struck twice in two deliveries to leave Indonesia 29 for five after ten overs, then returned to dismiss Ni Ariani, Maypriani and Paramitha with consecutive balls to complete the hat-trick. Sugandika Kumari took one for three.
Top of the group, with Bangladesh next
Sri Lanka lead Group B with two wins from two and play Bangladesh in the tournament’s tenth match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, September 6, Daily Mirror reported.
Bangladesh are second in the group with one win from two, having beaten Indonesia by 71 runs. Sobhana Mostary is their leading run-scorer with 40 and Nahida Akter has three wickets.
Daily Mirror puts Athapaththu at the top of Sri Lanka’s tournament run-scoring with 57 runs alongside her eight wickets — a return that reflects how few overs Sri Lanka have needed to bat so far.
Sri Lanka opened their campaign with a nine-wicket win over the UAE on August 29, a match in which Athapaththu became the first batter to reach 500 Women’s Asia Cup runs. The 15-member squad was named on August 13 with Harshitha Samarawickrama as vice-captain, for a tournament running in the UAE until September 13. Sri Lanka are the reigning champions.
Not reported
Neither outlet gives Sri Lanka’s fixtures beyond Sunday, or says what result would confirm a semi-final place. Ada Derana does not say where the 7 for 5 ranks among all women’s T20I bowling performances, only among Sri Lankan ones, and neither report gives her over-by-over analysis.
The squad announcement in August listed the bowler both outlets call Sugandika Kumari as Sugandika Dassanayaka; the discrepancy is unexplained.
