Sri Lanka hammered England in the second T20I of the three match series at Chelmsford today (September 2), after a Chamari Athapaththu masterclass followed a spin-inspired annihilation with the bat.
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England and Sri Lanka had played 13 T20Is against each other before today, with England coming out on top in all of them that yielded a result. In all forms of women’s international cricket, Sri Lanka had only ever recorded one win over England – in the 2013 World Cup in Australia, Athapaththu crucial in that game too. But, after they were thrashed in the first game of the series two days ago, Sri Lanka dominated England in Essex.
Right from the first over after opting to bowl, Sri Lanka were on top. Athapaththu dismissed Danni Wyatt with the last ball of her opening over, Wyatt having struck eight boundaries in her 48 at Hove on Thursday. The key wicket, however, came when Alice Capsey skied a catch to Inoshi Priyadharshani after facing a string of dot balls.
From there on England lost a steady flow of wickets, Maia Bouchier falling four balls after Capsey and all of Amy Jones, Freya Kemp and Heather Knight dismissed within six runs. Priyadharshani and Kavisha Dilhari were the pick of the four spin attack, with none of England’s top seven able to score more than 14.
The only hope of England fighting their way to a defendable total was when Charlie Dean came to the crease. She hit three consecutive fours off Inosha Ranaweera and top-scored with 34 off 26 balls. Udeshika Prabodhani bowled her to end England’s innings for 104, England lowest-ever total in a T20I against Sri Lanka.
While, given Sri Lanka’s batting performance in the first T20I, it wasn’t unreasonable to suggest England weren’t out of the game, Athapaththu immediately made sure England were on the back seat. She hit Kate Cross’s second ball for four, before hitting here for three consecutive fours in her second over, followed by an enormous six out of the ground over square leg.
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She reached her fifty from just 26 balls – missing out by one ball on her own record for the fastest fifty in T20Is for Sri Lanka women. By the time she was dismissed for 55 off 31, the damage was done. Sri Lanka only needed another 26 runs from the 64 balls remaining in the innings.
Harshitha Samarawickrama and Vishmi Gunaratne quickly knocked them off. Gunaratne hit three fours off Issy Wong in one over, reducing the equation to a single run needed. Wong was on recall to England for the first time this year, having been out of form for most of the domestic season. She was included in England’s squads for the Ashes but didn’t play a game. However, her first over was worrying. She bowled three no balls and a wide, taking ten deliveries to complete it and conceding 12 runs. When she came back on to Gunaratne, she served up a full toss first up and had little control over her pace and width.
Samarawickrama finished up a historic day for Sri Lanka in style with a six over deep midwicket. It’s taken 14 years since the first time the sides faced each other in the format for Sri Lanka to secure a win, but they demolished England to pick up their first in style.
