Match Report | CWG Qualifiers | Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 22 runs and grab the final spot for the CWG 2022
Written By: Ritwika Dhar
Date: 24-01-2022
Picture Courtesy: ICC / Twitter
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were up against each other with one spot up for grabs for the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.
This was going to be a contest between the tournament’s best batting side and the best bowling side. Before going into this match, Sri Lanka was leading the head-to-head record by 4-2, with the last 4 games being won by them.
After winning the toss, Sri Lanka opted to bat first to put up a score on the board. Sri Lanka started their innings cautiously as they only managed to score 19 runs in 4 overs and lost the wicket of Gunaratne early. Skipper Chamari Athapaththu wasn’t shy of playing her attacking game and helped her team get going. After 7 overs, Sri Lanka was 48/1 out of which Athapaththu contributed 32. But in the 10th over, Bangladesh was able to get rid of her as Rumana Ahmed took her wicket on 48 (28).
After this blow, Nilakshi de Silva (28 off 25) and Harshitha Madavi (19 off 22) steadied the ship. With the help of Anushka Sanjeewani’s cameo of 20* (16) at the end, Sri Lanka posted a competitive total of 136/6 on the board.
In the chase, Bangladesh was able to have decent partnerships and only lost 5 wickets. But, they couldn’t meet the asking rate throughout the innings. Murshida Khatun (36 off 36), Fargana Hoque 33 off 39), and captain Nigar Sultana (20 off 21) scored the bulk of runs. Their efforts weren’t enough to chase down the total and they fell short by 22 runs.
Athapaththu stifled the Bangladeshi batters with her extraordinary bowling spell of 3/17 and booked Sri Lanka’s spot in the CWG 2022. They will be placed in Group B alongside England, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Brief Scorecard:
Sri Lanka – 136/6 (20) C. Athapaththu 48 (28), N. de Silva 28 (25); N. Akter 2/34 (4), S. Azmim 1/12 (2)
Bangladesh – 114/5 (20) M. Khatun 36 (36), F. Hoque 33 (39); C. Athapaththu 3/17 (4), A. Kanchana 1/13 (2)