Sri Lanka defeated India to clinch their maiden Women’s T20 Asia Cup title, in front of their home crowd. Chamari Athapaththu led Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket win over Harmanpreet Kaur’s India with eight balls to spare. Chamari got emotional as she celebrated the title win with her teammates. After the win, Chamari was seen hugging her ailing mother in the dressing room.
In the post-match presentation, he Sri Lanka captain also talked about the sacrifices her mother had to make. She revealed that this was the first time her mother came to watch her bat live after a long gap of 13 years.
“I am really happy because I played good cricket to showcase my skills. The main reason is that my mother was present to see me batting. After 13 years, she was in the family box here in Dambulla. She couldn’t see matches due to illness and came back to see matches, and she encouraged me to do well. She has sacrificed a lot for me. Thank you very much, my loving mother,” she said.
In the final, she scored 61 runs from 43 balls including nine fours and a couple of sixes. In the run chase of 168, she dominated Indian bowlers during the fielding restrictions despite the wicket of opener Vishmi Gunaratne in the first over. The captain shared an 87-run partnership with Harshitha Samarawickrama who scored 69 runs from 51 balls. She was supported by Kavisha Dilhari's 16-ball 30 cameo.
Chamari’s stellar tournament
Chamari was named ‘Player of the tournament’. She was the highest run-scorer with 304 runs from five innings at an average of 101.33. She scored one century and two half-centuries. She bagged three wickets as well.
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Chamari lauds the champions
After the win, she lauded her teammates for their performance in the final.
“I'm feeling happy, I'm happy about my team's performance, especially the batting. Special thanks to Harshita and DIlhari for their performance. It's not a one-man show, the coaching staff has been great and finally we have won the Asia Cup,” said the 34-year-old.
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