Vidushika Perera and Dewmi Vihanga were the stars with the ball as Sri Lanka registered a comfortable 7-wicket win over the USA in their 1st game of the inaugural ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup in Benoni.
The USA openers got off to a good start after skipper Geethika Kodali won the toss and opted to bat. Laasaya Mullapudi and Disha Dhingra put on 28 in 5 overs, before Vihanga struck, trapping Mullapudi in front for 3.
This was exactly the opening Sri Lanka needed, as from that point they just kept picking up wickets at regular intervals, ensuring the US team couldn’t get any momentum into their innings. Ritu Priya Singh and Kodali put on 33 for the 6th wicket to give their side hope of posting a total in excess of 100, but Vihanga came back to remove Kodali, reducing USA to 88/6. They eventually completed their 20 overs 9 down, setting Sri Lanka a target of 97 to win.
Vihanga picked up 3/11, while her partner in crime during this trip to South Africa so far, Perera, finished with 2/15.
The chase started with a stutter as Snigdha Paul snagged the wicket of Sri Lanka’s only half-centurion in the warm-ups, Nethmi Senarathna in the 3rd over. It was slow going for the next 5 overs as Sumudu Nisansala and skipper Vishmi Gunaratne steadied the innings, but the fall of the former’s wicket saw Sri Lanka begin to attack a lot more.
Vihanga started things off with two boundaries before being dismissed for 10 before Manudi Nanayakka came to the party, hitting 32 off 31, including a six to finish things off in 19 overs. Gunaratne remained unbeaten at the other end with 34 off 40.
Sri Lanka will next face Bangladesh, who registered a thrilling win over Australia in their tournament opener, on Monday, 16th January at the same venue.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disha Dhingra | run out (Vishmi Gunarathne) | 18 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 69.23 |
| Laasya Mullapudi | lbw b Dewmi Vihanga | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 37.50 |
| Anika Kolan | c Nethmi Senarathna b Vihara Sewwandi | 9 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 64.29 |
| Snigdha Paul | c & b Dewmi Vihanga | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 37.50 |
| Isani Vaghela | c & b Dulanga Dissanayke | 8 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Ritu Singh | c Dewmi Vihanga b Vidushika Perera | 22 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 95.65 |
| Geetika Kodali | st Sumudu Nisansala b Dewmi Vihanga | 11 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 84.62 |
| Pooja Shah | lbw b Vidushika Perera | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 11.11 |
| Aditiba Chudasama | not out | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Bhumika Bhadriraju | c Vishmi Gunarathne b Rashmi Nethranjali | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Sai Tanmayi Eyyunni | not out | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 150.00 |
| Extras | 15 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 14, pen 0) |
| Total | 96/9 (20 Overs, RR: 4.8) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pamoda Shaini | 3 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 5.33 | |
| Rashmi Nethranjali | 4 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 4.50 | |
| Vihara Sewwandi | 3 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 6.33 | |
| Dewmi Vihanga | 4 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 2.75 | |
| Vidushika Perera | 4 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 3.75 | |
| Dulanga Dissanayke | 2 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 8.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nethmi Senarathna | c Laasya Mullapudi b Snigdha Paul | 5 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 45.45 |
| Sumudu Nisansala | c Aditiba Chudasama b Bhumika Bhadriraju | 14 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 58.33 |
| Vishmi Gunarathne | not out | 34 | 40 | 2 | 0 | 85.00 |
| Dewmi Vihanga | st Anika Kolan b Bhumika Bhadriraju | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 125.00 |
| Manudi Nanayakkara | not out | 32 | 31 | 1 | 1 | 103.23 |
| Extras | 5 (b 0 , lb 2 , nb 0, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 100/3 (19 Overs, RR: 5.26) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snigdha Paul | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0.67 | |
| Aditiba Chudasama | 3 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 4.67 | |
| Bhumika Bhadriraju | 4 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 4.25 | |
| Isani Vaghela | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4.50 | |
| Ritu Singh | 3 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 10.00 | |
| Sai Tanmayi Eyyunni | 3 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 7.00 | |
| Geetika Kodali | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5.00 | |
