Skipper Chamari helps Sri Lanka Women take 1-0 lead

Sri Lanka’s Chamari Atapattu (right) celebrates a dismissal with teammates (Pic courtesy SLC)   

By M. Shamil Amit   

A four wicket haul by skipper Chamari Atapattu which was her best bowling performance laid the foundation for Sri Lanka Women record a comfortable four wicket win over the visiting West Indies Women in the first of the three match T20 series played at Sooriyawewa Stadium yesterday.   

The win saw Sri Lanka Women take a 1-0 lead and added to that it was their first win against the West Indies Women in this short version after a considerable period with the last being achieved in the year 2015.   
West Indies Women invited to take first lease of the wicket found run getting a tough job against a well planned attack of Chamari Atapattu and Inoshi Priyadharshani.   

Skipper Atapattu was ably supported by Priyadharshani who bagged three scalps as the duo combined to restrict the visitors for a score of 134. Later Sri Lanka Women in their run chase was steerd by Vishmi Gunaratne who continued her batting form and Harshitha Samarawickrama who both made identical knocks of 35 while Hasini Perera and Nilakshika Silva (17 n.o.) made useful contributions for the host side race to the target in the 19th over.   
The two teams will play their second match tomorrow at the same venue.

Result:
At Sooriyawewa – Sri Lanka Women won by four wickets
West Indies Women 134 for 8 in 20 overs (Hayley Matthews 30, Aaliyah Aleyne 26, Qiana Joseph 20: Chamari Athapaththu 4/29, Inoshi Priyadharshani 3/28)   
Sri Lanka Women 137 for 6 in 18.4 overs (Vishmi Gunaratne 35, Harshitha Samarawickrama 35, Hasini Perera 20: Afy Fletcher 2/29)