Chasing Sri Lanka’s 129/4, hosts South Africa could only manage 126/9 in 20 overs.
New Delhi: An excellent 68 from skipper Chamari Athapaththu and economical bowling by their spin trio helped Sri Lanka stun hosts South Africa by three runs in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 opener on Friday.
Batting first, Sri Lanka rode on Athapaththu’s knock and Vishmi Gunaratne’s 35 to post 129/6 as none of the remaing batters managed double digits. The southpaw hit 12 fours during his 68 and stitched a crucial 86-run stand with 17-year-old Vishmi Gunarathne.
Nadine de Klerk, Shabnim Ismail and Marizanne Kapp picked up one wicket each for South Africa. In reply, the hosts never got going and lost wickets at regular intervals. Left-arm spinnerInoka Ranaweera took three wickets for 18 runs while Sugandika Kumari scalped two.
Off-spinner Oshadhi Ranasinghe also finished with two wickets as South African batters failed to build any substantial partnerships. Captain Sune Luus top scored for South Africa with 28.
