Assertive Sri Lanka saunter to historic win over England
Sri Lanka women registered their first-ever T20I win over England in 11 attempts, cruising to an eight-wicket win with 40 balls to spare on Saturday in Chelmsford.
The ongoing three-game series between the two sides is now tied at 1-1.
Chamari Athapaththu decided to take the field after winning the toss. She vindicated her decision by cleaning up England opener Danni Wyatt for one in the very first over.
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From then, Sri Lanka used their web of spin to take control of the first innings. Experienced England batters like Heather Knight and Amy Jones couldn’t find answers to the quartet of Inoka Ranaweera (2/25), Sugandika Kumari (1/16), Kavisha Dilhari (2/17) and Inoshi Priyadharshani (2/16).
Only Charlie Dean showed some grit with the willow, and added 34 from 26, with four boundaries to her name. However, left-arm pacer Udeshika Prabodhani wreaked havoc in the 19th over to bowl England out for 104.
This was England’s lowest total against Sri Lanka in a women's T20I.
In response, the Asian side’s charge was led by their skipper Athapaththu. She hit eight fours and two sixes in her 55 from 31. Sri Lanka needed less than three runs an over by the time she was dismissed in the ninth over by Alice Capsey. Sri Lanka won the match in the 14th over to script history and will hope to seal a rare series win in the final T20I on Wednesday.
England beat Sri Lanka by 12 runs in the first T20I at Hove. The series decider will be played at Derby on 6 September.