Sri Lanka and Scotland have qualified for the 2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, which will be held in Bangladesh from October 3rd to October 20th.
The hosts, United Arab Emirates (UAE), gave the seasoned Sri Lanka team a run for their money in defending their 149-run total in the do-or-die duel in the second semi-final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Sri Lanka will now face Scotland in the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier on Tuesday, May 7, at the same venue.Sri Lanka won the toss and batted first, with openers Vishmi Gunaratne and captain Chamari Athapaththu putting on a solid performance with a 52-run partnership in 7.2 overs. Athapaththu (21) attempted to take the game away from the UAE with some powerful smashes, including two consecutive sixes, but Vaishnave Mahesh (2/33), a leg-spinner, removed her.Gunaratne then added 44 for the second wicket with Harshitha Madavi (24); however, Mahesh broke the stand in the 16th over.
Gunaratne, who surpassed Kathryn Bryce as the tournament’s best run scorer with 45 runs (180 runs in five innings), was stumped by Esha Oza (2/27). The right-hander blasted five fours in 44 pitches.
Following Gunaratne’s exit, middle-order hitters Hasini Perera (15), Kavisha Dilhari (17), and Nilakshi De Silva (18) combined for eight boundaries in the dying overs to lift the team to 149 runs.
Oza then went on to score one of the tournament’s highlight innings, as the UAE put up a serious fight against Sri Lanka with the bat. She lost her opening partner, Theertha Satish, without scoring in the chase’s first over. Oza then led a 66-run second-wicket stand with Khushi Sharma (22). She combined 37 for the third wicket with Kavisha Egodage (16) to keep her team in the game.
Oza hit some dazzling strokes in her scorching 66 off 44, including four massive sixes as Sri Lanka’s bowlers looked for solutions. The Islanders made the much-needed breakthrough when the right-hander was knocked out by Udeshika Prabodhani in the 16th over, with the score at 108.
During her spectacular innings, Oza surpassed Gunaratne as the tournament’s leading run scorer, with 189 runs at 47.25.
The captain’s loss hampered the UAE’s pursuit, with the lower-order batters failing to score the necessary boundaries and Sri Lanka’s bowlers and fielders tightening the screws. The UAE’s innings continued to struggle until the conclusion of their allotted overs, when they achieved 134/7.
Athapaththu was Sri Lanka’s finest bowler of the night, taking two wickets for 28 in four overs. Sugandika Kumari, Inoshi Priyadharshani, and Udeshika Prabodhani each claimed a wicket.
