A century from Chamari Athapaththu paved the way for Sri Lanka as they registered a comfortable 9-wicket win over New Zealand, their 1st ever against the side in any format, in the 1st ODI between the teams at the Galle International Cricket Stadium earlier today.
Heavy rains early in the day meant that the game was reduced to a 29-overs-a-side affair, before another short rain delay during the New Zealand innings saw it shortened to 28 overs per side.
The White Ferns started quietly and lost keeper batter Bernadine Bezuidenhout in just the 5th over. Experienced campaigners Amelia Kerr and Suzie Bates rebuilt the innings with a 60-run partnership to help the visitors take control of the game.
However, 3 quick wickets, including the run-out of skipper Sophie Devine at the non-striker’s end saw Sri Lanka claw their way back again before Maddy Green and Georgia PLimmer finished with a flourish to give the visitors 170 off their 28 overs. The target for Sri Lanka was revised to 172 according to the D/Ls method.
Sri Lanka’s chase started with a bang, with Athapaththu looking to go after experienced quick Lea Tahuhu early on. The hosts raced to 39 in the 1st 6 overs before consolidating against the spinners in the middle overs.
Athapaththu continued to take the entire burden of scoring onto her shoulders, allowing youngster Vishmi Gunaratne to settle at the other end. The teen made the most of the opportunity, going to her 1st half century in international cricket in 73 ball.
The Sri Lankan skipper’s ton came in 79 deliveries before the home side cantered home with 9 wickets in hand.
The two teams have faced each other in 10 ODIs previous to this, with the Ferns registering 10 comfortable wins. However, the tables were turned on this occasion as they suffered their own heavy loss to concede an unexpected 1-0 lead to Sri Lanka in the 3 match series.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suzie Bates | b Kavisha Dilhari | 28 | 35 | 2 | 0 | 80.00 |
| Bernadine Bezuidenhout | c & b Sugandika Kumari | 13 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Amelia Kerr | c Udeshika Prabodhani b Inoka Ranaweera | 40 | 51 | 3 | 0 | 78.43 |
| Sophie Devine | run out (Inoka Ranaweera) | 19 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 135.71 |
| Maddy Green | run out (Inoshi Priyadarshani) | 38 | 30 | 3 | 1 | 126.67 |
| Georgia Plimmer | not out | 23 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 92.00 |
| Brooke Halliday | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 8 (b 4 , lb 1 , nb 1, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 170/5 (28 Overs, RR: 6.07) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-17 (4.2) Bernadine Bezuidenhout, 2-77 (14.6) Suzie Bates, 3-89 (17.4) Amelia Kerr, 4-105 (19.4) Sophie Devine, 5-168 (27.3) Maddy Green, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Udeshika Prabodhani | 6 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 6.33 | |
| Oshadi Ranasinghe | 5 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 6.40 | |
| Sugandika Kumari | 6 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 4.67 | |
| Kavisha Dilhari | 5 | 0 | 26 | 1 | 5.20 | |
| Inoka Ranaweera | 6 | 0 | 41 | 1 | 6.83 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chamari Athapaththu | not out | 108 | 83 | 10 | 5 | 130.12 |
| Vishmi Gunaratne | c Brooke Halliday b Sophie Devine | 50 | 74 | 3 | 0 | 67.57 |
| Harshitha Samarawickrama | not out | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 80.00 |
| Extras | 10 (b 2 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 8, pen 0) |
| Total | 172/1 (27 Overs, RR: 6.37) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-159 (25.1) Vishmi Gunaratne, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lea Tahuhu | 4 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 6.50 | |
| Sophie Devine | 4 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 5.00 | |
| Fran Jonas | 5 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 6.20 | |
| Eden Carson | 6 | 1 | 27 | 0 | 4.50 | |
| Amelia Kerr | 6 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 7.67 | |
| Hannah Rowe | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| Suzie Bates | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 11.00 | |
