Chamari Athapaththu’s Whirlwind 80 Not Out Leads Sri Lanka To 10-wicket Win Over New Zealand

Colombo: Sri Lankan Captain Chamari Athapaththu slammed a whirlwind 80 not out off just 47 balls as Sri Lanka thrashed New Zealand by ten wickets in the third and final T20I at the P Sara Oval, here on Wednesday.

This was a consolation victory for the hosts, who had already lost the first two matches of the three-match series. New Zealand ended the tour by winning the T20I trophy after Sri Lanka had won the ODIs 2-1.

After Inoka Ranaweera took 3/15 while Sugandika Kumari struck twice as New Zealand were restricted to 140/9, Chamari came out all guns blazing as Sri Lanka scored 64 without losing a wicket in the power-play, of which the skipper scored 45.

She notched up her fifty in just 25 balls, the fastest half-century by a Sri Lankan women’s player in T20Is. The damage did not stop after Athapaththu got to her milestone as she finished with an unbeaten 80, laced with 13 fours and two sixes.

Harshitha Samarawickrama (49 not out off 40 balls) was the perfect ally for Chamari in the entire chase before she smashed three fours in the 14th over to finish off the chase for Sri Lanka with 33 balls to spare.

For New Zealand, captain Sophie Devine top scored with 46 off 25 balls, laced with two fours and three sixes. But the visitors lost five wickets for just 11 runs in the last three overs of their innings to end up at 140/9, which was easily overhauled by the hosts, thanks to a rampaging Chamari.

With the chase, Sri Lanka established a new record for the highest 10-wicket run chase in women’s T20I cricket history. They beat the record by just one run, edging past New Zealand’s 142/0 against Ireland in 2018.

The unbeaten 143 runs partnership for the first wicket between Chamari and Harshita is also the highest partnership for any wicket from the Sri Lankan women’s team. This was just the third 100+ run partnership by the Sri Lankan team in women’s T20Is, with Harshita being involved in each one of them.

Brief scores: New Zealand 140 for 9 (Devine 46, Ranaweera 3-15, Kumari 2-23) lost to Sri Lanka 143 for 0 (Athapaththu 80 not out, Samarawickrama 49 not out) by 10 wickets.