Sri Lanka registered their fourth consecutive win in ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2024 as they beat USA by 18 runs at Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi.
Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka faced a big blow at the top of the order as they lost the Skipper Chamari Athapaththu for just 4 runs in the very first over of the innings.
Vishmi Gunaratne and Harshitha Samarawickrama then steadied the innings, adding 49 runs for the second wicket. The USA bowlers managed to find a couple of breakthroughs as they dismissed both the set batters Gunaratne and Samarawickrama in two consecutive overs.
The middle order batters Hansima Karunaratne and Nilakshika Silva resurrected the innings once again for Sri Lanka, building a 43-run stand for the 4th wicket as the islanders finished on 123/4.
In reply, USA posted only 105 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in the allotted 20 overs. The Skipper Athapaththu, who failed to make a contribution with the bat, came up with a match-defining spell with the ball, picking up 3 wickets for 14 runs to halt the progress of the USA batters in the run-chase.
Sri Lanka will meet UAE in the Semi Final encounter tomorrow (5th May) at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
