Sri Lanka’s old horses Inoka Ranaweera, Sugandika Kumari and Oshadi Ranasinghe accounted for seven of South Africa’s nine wickets as they successfully defended a total of 129 to win their women’s T20 World Cup opener in Cape Town, South Africa on Friday.
Ranaweera at age 36 was the pick of all three spin bowlers as she ended with 3 for 18 while Ranasinghe also 36 and Sugandika (31) finished with two scalps each as South Africa ended at 126 for 9 in the 20 overs with two batters run-out after Sri Lanka put into bat first made 129.
The match was evenly poised from the start of play as Sri Lanka could make just four runs off the first three overs and reach 28 in the six power-play overs.
But opener and captain Chamari Atapattu got into her stride and stroked a 50-ball 68 with 12 fours to ensure Sri Lanka had something to defend.
Together with 17-year old schoolgirl Vishmi Gunaratne (35) Atapattu shared in an 86-run stand for the second wicket before ending up at 129 for 4 in the 20 overs.
The South Africans also had a slow start before losing their first wicket with the total at 29 in the fifth ball of the fifth over in chasing down the target.
From there on it was anyone’s game as the Sri Lankan women sensed an opening and rallied around with Ranaweera, Ranasinghe and Sugandika taking wickets at regular intervals not allowing their South African counterparts to settle in.
South Africa needed to get 13 runs in the last over with two wickets in the bag with their frontline batters dismissed and a run-out in the second ball of the last over did not help their cause as they were curtailed to a heartbreaking 126 for 9.
Sri Lanka will next take on Bangladesh on Sunday with two more group matches left against defending champions Australia and New Zealand.
Two teams in each of the groups qualify for the semi finals.
Scores:
Sri Lanka women 129 for 4 in 20 overs (Chamari Atapattu 68, Vishmi Gunaratne 35)
South Africa women 126 for 9 in 20 overs (Sugandika Kumari 2 for 28, Oshadi Ranasinghe 2 for 20, Inoka Ranaweera 3 for 18)