Sri Lanka’s hopes of making it through to the semifinals of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 came crashing down as they were bowled out for a mere 60, chasing 163 against New Zealand in Paarl.
Sri Lanka had a massive opportunity to move past the 1st round of the T20 World Cup for the first time ever, needing to just avoid defeat against New Zealand. However, they were quickly brought down to earth, with the Kiwis putting together a strong batting performance to post 162 on a track that did not look easy to bat on.
The Kiwis knew they had to attack right from the word go after winning the toss, needing to get their Net Run Rate up to give themselves a chance, at least mathematically, of making it through to the semis.
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Bernadine Bezuidenhout and Suzie Bates got them off to a flier, getting them to 47 in the powerplay, thanks to a couple of fielding lapses from Sri Lanka. The Lankans first opportunity came courtesy a mixup in the middle between the pair, but Achini Kulasooriya, who had done well to field the ball at square leg, threw wildly, allowing Bezuidenhout to get back into her crease.
The Kiwi wicket-keeper batter got another life when Harshitha Samarawickrama put down a straightforward catch at deep mid-wicket. Apart from these two opportunities, two more were missed in what was a sloppy performance in the field from Sri Lanka.
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Amelia Kerr and Bates put on 110 for the 2nd wicket to push New Zealand beyond 160 while only Kulasooriya and Inoka Ranaweera managed to get amongst the wickets. The former unfortunately had to be stretchered off the field after hurting her shoulder in the 17th over of the innings.
Sri Lanka needed 123 to ensure they remained ahead of New Zealand on the table and kept their chances of going through to the semis alive via NRR. The chase started off cautiously, with just 22 coming off the 1st4 overs. Samarawickrama was the first to fall and no one else really stuck around to give Sri Lanka a chance of getting close to New Zealand’s total.
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Chamari Athapaththu was the top scorer with 19 and only Malsha Shehani got to double figures apart from her, making 10. Sri Lanka simply had no answers to the Kiwis, who also fielded brilliantly, being bowled out for their lowest T20 World Cup score – 60.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernadine Bezuidenhout | c Chamari Athapaththu b Achini Kulasuriya | 32 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 160.00 |
| Suzie Bates | st Anushka Sanjeewani b Inoka Ranaweera | 56 | 49 | 6 | 0 | 114.29 |
| Amelia Kerr | run out (Kavisha Dilhari) | 66 | 48 | 6 | 0 | 137.50 |
| Sophie Devine | not out | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Maddy Green | not out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 5 (b 3 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 162/3 (20 Overs, RR: 8.1) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sugandika Kumari | 4 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 7.25 | |
| Achini Kulasuriya | 2.1 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 6.67 | |
| Oshadi Ranasinghe | 3 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| Malsha Shehani | 2 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 8.50 | |
| Inoka Ranaweera | 4 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 6.75 | |
| Kavisha Dilhari | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 12.00 | |
| Chamari Athapaththu | 3.5 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 9.43 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harshitha Samarawickrama | c Georgia Plimmer b Eden Carson | 8 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 57.14 |
| Chamari Athapaththu | lbw b Amelia Kerr | 19 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 90.48 |
| Vishmi Gunaratne | c Suzie Bates b Hannah Rowe | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Nilakshika Silva | b Jess Kerr | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Anushka Sanjeewani | b Lea Tahuhu | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12.50 |
| Kavisha Dilhari | c Amelia Kerr b Lea Tahuhu | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Oshadi Ranasinghe | b Fran Jonas | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 30.00 |
| Malsha Shehani | b Amelia Kerr | 10 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 76.92 |
| Sugandika Kumari | run out (Bernadine Bezuidenhout) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Inoka Ranaweera | not out | 5 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 41.67 |
| Achini Kulasuriya | timed-out b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 9 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 8, pen 0) |
| Total | 60/10 (15.5 Overs, RR: 3.79) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eden Carson | 2 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 7.00 | |
| Jess Kerr | 2 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 3.50 | |
| Hannah Rowe | 3 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 4.00 | |
| Amelia Kerr | 2.5 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 2.80 | |
| Lea Tahuhu | 4 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 3.00 | |
| Fran Jonas | 2 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 3.50 | |
