Sri Lanka have brought on a serious shock within the opening recreation of the Women’s Twenty20 World Cup, holding their nerve within the area in a frantic end to beat hosts South Africa by three runs.
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu hit 68 from 50 balls to arrange a complete of 4-129 after her group was despatched in to bat.
Sri Lanka’s bowling and fielding carried their house, with spinners Inoka Ranaweera, Oshadi Ranasinghe and Sugandika Kumari accounting for seven of the wickets as South Africa completed on 9-126.
Sri Lanka additionally pulled off two necessary run outs within the final two overs to chop quick late counterattacks by South African tailenders Sinalo Jafta and Shabnim Ismail.
Last batter Nonkululeko Mlaba lofted a drive over mid-off for 4 off the final ball of the sport for South Africa nevertheless it did not matter because the hosts wanted eight off that supply to win.
Sri Lanka’s gamers celebrated their well-known win energetically at Newlands in Cape Town and all ended up in a huddle on the sphere doing a group chant.
Athapaththu was an important chief together with her efficiency with the bat but additionally for marshalling her bowlers and fielders within the tense ultimate overs.
“I always try and lead from the front,” Athapaththu stated. “I try and be a role model for the team. We played good cricket today.”
Athapaththu hit 12 fours in her half-century and placed on a partnership of 82 off 62 balls with 17-year-old Vishmi Gunaratne, who made 35 off 34 batting at No.3 and guarantees to be the subsequent star of Sri Lankan ladies’s cricket after Athapaththu.
The defeat for South Africa was a bitter blow and got here after a tumultuous buildup to the match when captain and allrounder Dane van Niekerk, one of many world’s prime gamers, was ignored of the squad for the match for failing a health and conditioning take a look at.
The determination to drop Van Niekerk as a result of she missed the cutoff time for a two-kilometre run by 18 seconds has stoked scorching debate in South Africa.
Coach Hilton Moreeng stated the group’s health necessities had been “non-negotiable” and Van Niekerk ended up working as a TV commentator on the tournament-opener as her group misplaced.
“One game doesn’t define a team and the World Cup still has a long way to go,” new South Africa captain Sune Luus stated.
Defending champions Australia, who’ve gained 5 of the seven T20 World Cups performed, begin their marketing campaign in opposition to New Zealand in an evening recreation in Paarl on Saturday.
England play the West Indies earlier.
The Australians are favoured to retain their title on the World Cup regardless of a shock loss to Ireland in a warmup recreation this week, their first T20 defeat in almost two years.
“We come into this World Cup on level pegging with everybody else and we’re coming here to win and we know how difficult that is,” stated Australia captain Meg Lanning, who has led her nation to a few of these World Cup titles.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
