Sri Lanka easily defeats Bangladesh with the aid of Prabodhani and Gunaratne

Sri Lanka defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets in Dambulla to begin their Women’s Asia Cup 2024 campaign in fine fashion thanks to an outstanding all-around performance in the field and a solid half-century from Vishmi Gunaratne.

Everything that could have gone wrong for Bangladesh once they decided to bat went wrong, as they lost four wickets in the powerplay. To get Bangladesh to 111 for 8, it required captain Nigar Sultana to play the role of an anchor and some lower-order hitting from Shorna Akter, who hammered 25 off 14 balls.

As they have repeatedly demonstrated this year, Sri Lanka is no longer a one-woman team, even though they lost their captain Chamari Athapaththu early in the chase. With three T20I half-centuries this year, Gunaratne, who is having an incredible 2024, maintained her good form. With 17 balls remaining, Sri Lanka crossed the finish line with the help of Harshitha Samarawickrama. Bangladesh’s T20I losing streak in 2024 thus increased to nine matches.

Bangladesh’s attempt at forgetting

With Dilara Akter lofting Udeshika Prabodhani for a straight four on the opening ball, Bangladesh got off to a promising start. After that, though, things only got worse. After two balls, Prabodhani took a fuller swing, bringing the ball to the tail and causing chaos for Dilara’s stumps. On the very next ball, Nilakshika Silva made a fantastic grab racing back and diving sideways after Rubya Haider pathetically chipped a drive to the right of cover-point.

After giving a straightforward catch to backward point off Inoshi Priyadharshani, Ishma Tanjim’s debut lasted a just three balls. With nine balls remaining, Bangladesh was down to 8 for 3, but Priyadharshani’s spectacular return catch in the sixth over saw them quickly climb to 17 for 4. To Priyadharshani’s right, Ritu Moni leaped down the track and forcefully struck a length ball. Nevertheless, she reached out with her right hand to catch the ball, holding onto it even after her elbow struck the ground. With 18 for 4, Bangladesh’s powerplay came to an abrupt stop, leaving Moni dumbfounded.

Sri Lanka continues to chip away at Nigar company.

Nigar bore the burden of leading Bangladesh into the future. Her first eighteen balls produced just six runs, indicating a poor start. After ten overs, Bangladesh reached 46 for 4, and the pressure eventually got to Shorifa Khatun. Perceiving her readiness to remove the restraints, Athapaththu maintained a length ball at a slow pace off stump. Shorifa saw her off stump agitated as she grabbed the bait and eyed an across-the-line hack.

After Rabeya Khan opened the scoring with a four, Sugandika Kumari trapped him for ten runs just in front of the wickets. Bangladesh seemed unlikely to reach 100 at 67 for 6 after 15.

Shorna defends Bangladesh.

Through the sword of 17-year-old Shorna, Bangladesh at last gained the much-needed momentum. She slammed Priyadharshani for four more runs after thrashing him past midwicket. Bangladesh was nearly at 100 as Shorna hit three consecutive fours off Kavisha Dilhari. But Silva made another excellent catch, this time at long-on, and her bid at a fourth boundary was foiled.

Nigar maintained the conversation at the other end. Before Nigar hit two fours off Prabodhani in the twentieth over, Bangladesh reached 100 in the nineteenth over. Bangladesh scored 44 runs in the final five overs, but 111 against a Sri Lankan team that was playing well was never going to be sufficient.

Gunaratne shines in Sri Lanka’s easy victory

In the past, Sri Lanka has frequently paid a heavy price for their over-reliance on Athapaththu. But Gunaratne, her captain falling early, maintained her composure. Against Nahida Akter, Athapaththu opened with a six over deep midwicket but was unable to clear long-on shortly after.

But Gunaratne managed to keep Sri Lanka on course. She started off by hitting Marufa wide of long-on with a four over mid-off. After the powerplay, as Sri Lanka accelerated towards the goal, Gunaratne hit five fours in the three overs. Her running between the wickets was the highlight of her innings. She tapped and fled when the borders didn’t materialise.

Samarawickrama gave her excellent support. Together, they put up 54 runs in 48 balls for the second wicket, keeping Bangladesh out of the game entirely. During her innings, Gunaratne performed a reverse sweep seven times, reaching her fifty runs mark.

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By the time Nahida tidied up her innings of 51 off 48, Sri Lanka only required 26 off 37 balls. After that, Samarawickrama assumed the role, and together with Dilhari, they reduced the target to single digits with three fours in a Shorna over. Dilhari then completed the chase with a four over mid-off.

Nahida finished with three wickets for twelve from her four overs, taking all three wickets for Bangladesh.