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It was yet another complete performance by the Sri Lankan women, who took a step closer to the semifinals after beating Bangladesh by seven wickets in Cape Town on Sunday (February 12) night. After a masterful bowling display, the Lankan batters kept their cool to clinch their second win on the trot in this competition with 10 balls to spare.
Chasing 127 for the win, Harshitha Samarawickrama carried the bat with her unbeaten 69 off 50 balls to prove that their win over hosts South Africa in the first game was no fluke. This was after Bangladesh's Marufa Akter put the screws through the Sri Lankan top order, getting the scalps of skipper Chamari Athapaththu (15 off 17), Vishmi Gunaratne (1 off 5) and Anushka Sanjeewani (0 off 1) in two overs.
But Harshitha kept her cool and worked her way to the required total as Akter turned out to be the only bowler to take a wicket for her side. Along with Nilakshi de Silva (41 off 38), she set up a 104-run partnership that could not be broken.
Harshita's innings included 8 fours and a six.
Earlier, Bangladesh were cruising in the powerplay at 48/2 and were looking strong, However, the Sri Lankan spinners and other plans. The duo of Oshadi Ranasinghe and skipper Athapaththu took five wickets between them, including that of Sobhana Mostary (29 off 32) and Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana (28 off 34), who were in good touch.
Athapaththu ended the bowling innings with two wickets for 19 in her four overs, while Ranasinghe's 3 for 23 ruled the roost.
Their next challenge, however, is their biggest yet — against record five-time champions Australia — but the Sri Lankan captain remains unfazed. "Australia is one of the best teams in the world and a world champion team. We need to improve our bowling a bit and continue our positive batting, just play our natural games," she said after the match.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh skipper Sultana was all praise for Marufa, who was drafted into the team straight after playing the recently concluded U19 Women's T20 World Cup. "Marufa bowled really well today. She just came from the U19 World Cup and showed how valuable she is to the side," she said.
