Chamari Athapaththu and her Sri Lankan team continued their dominance against the West Indies in their ongoing white-ball duel with a comfortable four-wicket victory in the first Twenty/20 at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota on June 24.
After falling to a 3-0 series defeat in the preceding One-day international (ODI) series last week, the Windies were hoping to bounce back in the T20 format – particularly with the return of their talismanic skipper Hayley Matthews.
The Windies skipper missed the end of the ODI series owing to illness. She top-scored with a run-a-ball 30 as the visitors posted 134 for eight after being sent in by Athapaththu.
The Windies lost wickets at regular intervals, and were struck a big double blow in the 13th over when both Matthews and Chedean Nation (eight) were sent back to the pavilion by off-spinner Inoshi Priyadharshani (three for 28).
West Indies slipped to 77 for four at the loss of Matthews' wicket, and the trouble magnified when ex-skipper Stafanie Taylor (11) and Chinelle Henry (two) were dismissed in consecutive overs to leave them on 93 for six in the 16th over.
Alaliyah Alleyne (26 off 22 balls) provided rearguard action at the end to help the Windies score reach 134, but both she and Zaida James fell to Athapaththu in the last over as the latter ended with impressive figures of four for 29 – a career-best in T20 internationals.
Matthews got the wicket of her opposite number early on, as Athapaththu (one) was dismissed in the third over as the hosts lost their first wicket with the score on 14.
Opener Vishmi Gunaratne (35 off 25 balls) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (35 off 34 balls) then put on 46 runs for the second wicket before the former was dismissed by leg-spinner Afy Fletcher (two for 29) in the tenth over to leave the hosts to 60 for two.
The visitors then got a flurry of wickets as Sri Lanka slipped to 116 for six in the 17th over when wicket-keeper/batter Kaushini Nuthyangana (seven) was trapped lbw by seamer Shamilia Connell (one for 15).
The hosts needed 19 runs off the last 21 balls to get the win, and middle-order batter Nilakshi de Silva held her nerve with an unbeaten 17 to take her team home in the penultimate over with eight balls to spare.
The second game of the three-match series will be played from 12.30 am on June 26 in Hambantota.
Summarised scores:
WEST INDIES: 134/8 (Hayley Matthews 30, Aaliyah Alleyne 26, Qiana Joseph 20; Chamari Athapaththu 4/29, Inoshi Priyadharshani 3/28) vs
SRI LANKA: 137/6 from 18.4 overs (Vishmi Gunaratne 35, Harshitha Samarawickrama 35, Hasini Perera 20; Afy Fletcher 2/9, A Alleyne 1/14). Sri Lanka won by 4 wickets.
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