Chamari makes memorable debut in NZ Women’s Super-Smash

Chamari Athapaththu representing Northern Brave with her Player of the Match award 

Sri Lanka’s star women’s cricketer Chamari Athapaththu, snubbed at the recent Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction when she surprisingly went unsold, made her mark in New Zealand Women’s Super-Smash competition when she won the Player of the Match award on her debut match for Northern Brave on Tuesday.

The Sri Lankan stalwart bowled Northern Brave to a five-wicket win over Wellington Blaze at Mount Maunganui capturing four wickets for 19 runs with her handy off-spin to put out the opposition for 110. Northern Brave chased down the total scoring 111-5 to win with two balls to spare. Athapaththu made 19 off 16 balls and with two catches to boot was named the Player of the Match.

Athapaththu had just completed a highly successful season in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) for Sydney Thunder finishing as the second highest run scorer in the tournament across teams with a tally of 451 runs from 12 innings at an average of 45.10 and a strike rate of 134.62, behind Perth Scorchers Beth Mooney who had 535 runs from 12 innings.

“Chamari’s all-round abilities will be a great addition to the Super Smash and is sure to excite the crowds with both bat and ball in hand. It will be great to have a player of her abilities on the park with us,” said Eimear Richardson, the Ireland international who is also captain of Northern Brave.

Easily the most popular Sri Lankan woman cricketer, Athapaththu has played in the Women’s CPL, for Guyana Amazon Warriors, as well as in the FairBreak Invitational T20 tournament and in the Women’s T20 Challenge. At the WBBL, Thunder was her third team, after she turned out for Melbourne Renegades and Scorchers in previous seasons.

“We know that Chamari will be a great role model and leader within our environment, and imparting these behaviours on our talented young squad is an important step in making the Northern Brave the best performance environment in the country,” said Ian Sandbrook, General Manager of performance and talent at Northern Districts.

“There’s no doubt that her exciting skill set, and destructive x-factor will be a huge addition to our team but just as importantly, to the competition as a whole.”