Chamari Athapaththu a player to watch out in ICC Women’s T20 WC Qualifier

Chamari Athapaththu

The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier is set to commence on Thursday, 25 April at two Abu Dhabi venues – the Zayed Cricket Stadium and the adjacent Tolerance Oval.

The tournament will provide 10 teams an opportunity of securing one of the two available spots in this year’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup which will be played in Bangladesh in September-October. The finalists will join the hosts, Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and the West Indies in the pinnacle Women’s T20 tournament.

In the Abu Dhabi Qualifier, Scotland, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uganda and the United States of America (USA) feature in Group A, while Ireland, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Vanuatu and Zimbabwe make up Group B. Each of the 10 teams have star performers whom their teams will be relying on to deliver the goods in the two-week long event.

Chamari Athapaththu is one of the stars of the women’s game. The left-hand opener has appeared in 125 T20Is for Sri Lanka and has often played a lead role in her team’s victories with attacking batting at the top of the order.

Athapaththu made her debut nearly 15 years ago. Her batting prowess and leadership skills have cemented her position as national Captain, and she has led the team for a major part of the past decade with 79 caps as Captain.

Athapaththu has a formidable record in ODIs with her eight centuries in the format currently placing her as the joint fourth-highest century maker amongst women batters in the ODI format. The 34-year-old has also notched a T20I century, a smashing 113 against Australia at the North Sydney Oval in September 2019. She has hit a staggering 61 sixes in T20Is.

Earlier this month, Athapaththu led Sri Lanka to 2-1 T20I series win in South Africa and was named the Player of the Match in the series decider. Last year she led the side to an ODI series win against New Zealand at home and an away T20I series win against England.

Other players to watch are Gaby Lewis (Ireland), Sterre Kalis (Netherlands), Kathryn Bryce (Scotland), Natthakan Chantham (Thailand), Esha Oza (UAE), Sindhu Sriharsha (USA), Immaculate Nakisuuyi (Uganda), Rachel Andrew (Vanuatu) and Kelis Ndhlovu (Zimbabwe).