Chamari Athapaththu century

Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu etched her name in history books with a 69-ball unbeaten 119 against Malaysia, the first hundred in the Women’s Asia Cup since the tournament adopted a T20I version.

Athapaththu had hit eight fours off the first 33 balls she faced to reach 38 before lofting Malaysia captain Winifred Duraisingam for consecutive sixes to reach her fifty. After the 17th over, her score stood at 76 in 57 balls.

Then she went after Ainna Hamizah Hashim, taking her for four, six, six off consecutive deliveries. When she got the strike back at the other end, against Aisya Eleesa, she ran two before dismissing the next ball over long-on into the stands.

This took her past Mithali Raj’s existing T20I Asia Cup record score of 97 not out (also against Malaysia) and made her the first to reach three figures in the format.

Still not content, she hit the next ball for six as well, and got another six – her seventh – in the final over, off Duraisingam. No other batter has hit even four sixes in an innings in the history of the tournament.

This was also the highest score by a Sri Lankan batter in women’s T20Is. The other two hundreds, 113 against Australia in 2019/20 and 102 against Scotland in 2024, are also by Athapaththu, as is their fourth-highest score, 86 against Scotland in 2021/22. Athapaththu also holds the 12 highest scores in women’s ODIs for Sri Lanka including each of their nine hundreds.

Sri Lanka finished with 184-4, their highest score in the format, eclipsing the 182-4 they had amassed against Scotland in 2021/22.

Watch Chamari Athapaththu become the first to reach a Women’s T20 Asia Cup century:

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