Sri Lanka has defeated Bangladesh to seal a place in the knockout stage of the Women’s Asia Cup, in what could’ve been a closely contested game.
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field. Bangladesh’s openers Dilara Akter and Juairiya Ferdous had a quick partnership of 31(29) at the start; however, Sri Lanka’s bowlers went all in, with left-arm spinner Chamudi Praboda picking up three wickets for just 21 runs.
Later in the game, Sobhana Mostary’s 41-ball 31 proved to be the only effort from the team to put up a three-figure score on the board. While scoring that, Mostary and Shorna Akter put up a partnership of 41; at the end, Fahima Khatun and Nahida Akter also had a brief partnership of 12(8).
Bangladesh put up a total of 114/8, but with Nigar Sultana’s side having bowling as a strong suit didn’t make it any easier for Sri Lanka to score.
Sri Lanka lost three wickets in the powerplay, including Athapaththu’s wicket. But a rescue act from Harshita Samarawickrama of 48(37) and contributions from Nilakshika Silva and Kaushini Nuthyangana helped them win by 4 wickets with 4 balls to spare.
With Sri Lanka’s qualification, they became the second team after India to go into the semis. The last two tickets for the semifinals look very likely to be taken by Bangladesh and Pakistan given their net run rates and wins so far.
