All-round Athapaththu, Madavi helps Sri Lanka end tour with a win

Sri Lanka Women skipper Chamari Athapaththu is pumped up after hitting her sixth ODI century

Harshitha Madavi scored 75 and helped her captain Chamari Athapaththu in a stand of 152

An all-round performance from Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu helped her team to a convincing consolation win in the third and final Women’s ODI against Pakistan played at Karachi yesterday. 

After electing to bat, Athapaththu scored her sixth ODI hundred, a 95-ball 101, before taking 2 for 20 with the ball to help rout Pakistan by 93 runs. Pakistan won the three-match series 2-1.

It looked like a miserable tour for Sri Lanka would end with another defeat when they lost two wickets for four runs. Hasini Perera was run out on the fifth ball of the innings before Anam Amin trapped Hansima Karunaratne in front. 

But Athapaththu consolidated with Harshitha Madavi in a splendid third-wicket partnership that accumulated 152 runs. While Madavi was circumspect in her approach, her captain was far more aggressive, taking the fight to spinners and fast bowlers alike and putting Pakistan on the ropes for the first time in the series.

A number of curious captaincy decisions by Bismah Maroof, who had a torrid day, didn’t help. She brought herself on when a wicket was needed, though it was quickly apparent she wouldn’t be the one to deliver it. An increasingly emboldened Athapaththu was taking on every bowler at that point, and she wasn’t spared. When Diana Baig did come on, she was accosted with three fours off her first three balls.

When Nida Dar finally had Athapaththu stumped, she had brought up her hundred, and a number of cameos lower down the order took the visitors to 260. Pakistan had only ever managed more than that in a second innings once and, against a buoyant Sri Lanka, they had their work cut out if they were to manage something similar. The chase followed the expected script as Pakistan couldn’t even come close. 

Sri Lanka kept chipping away as Pakistan waited for the inevitable and, with more than eight overs to go, folded for 167. Sri Lanka may not have left with either of the two trophies they fought for in Karachi, but they had the consolation of the last laugh.

Scores: 

Sri Lanka Women 260-7 (50) (Chamari Athapaththu 101, Harshitha Madavi 75, Kavisha Dilhari 28, Nilakshi de Silva 24*, Anam Amin 2/43, Fatima Sana 2/51)

Pakistan Women 167 (41.4) (Omaima Sohail 40, Aliya Riaz 56, Oshadi Ranasinghe 2/29, Chamari Athapaththu 2/20)