Sri Lanka women’s cricket team defeated Pakistan’s women's cricket team by three wickets in the second semi-final of the Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2024 on Friday at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.
The Lankans chased the target of 141 runs in the last over of their inning while the ball was in the hands of Pakistan’s captain Nida Dar as the hosts needed just three runs off six balls.
Dar made it difficult for the opposing batters but in the end, she bowled a wide delivery turning the result of the game in the hosts’ favour.
As Sri Lanka began their batting, they suffered setbacks with the dismissal of their two batters, Vishmi Gunaratne and Harshitha Samarawickrama and were 19-2 in four overs.
However, they were saved from defeat by their skipper Chamari Athapaththu who added 63 runs on 48 balls to the scoreboard.
The remaining runs were made chase-able by Anushka Sanjeewani who scored 24 runs.
Pakistan’s Sadia Iqbal grabbed four wickets while Dar and Omaima Sohail managed to take one wicket each.
Sri Lanka had invited Pakistan to bat first. Gull Feroza and Muneeba Ali kept steadily scoring runs and formed a 61-run partnership before Ali returned to the dugout after scoring 25 runs.
Feroza followed her partner in the same over bowled by Udeshika Prabodhani after scoring 37 runs on 34 balls.
Sidra Amin came in place of Ali and was soon dismissed after scoring just 10 runs off 13 balls. Dar’s struggle of 23 runs on 17 deliveries gave hope to Pakistan and the struggle was continued by Fatima Sana and Aliya Riaz who scored 23 off 17 and 16 off 15 respectively, helping Pakistan to get to a target of 141 runs.
The Lankan skipper Athapaththu received the Player of the Match award as she scored 63 off 58 balls.
Sri Lanka women will now face India women in the final of the Women’s T20 Asia Cup on July 28 in Dambulla.
Playing XIs
Sri Lanka: Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu (c), Harshitha Samarawickrama, Hasini Perera, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandika Kumari, Achini Kulasuriya.
Pakistan: Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali (wk), Sidra Ameen, Nida Dar (c), Omaima Sohail, Aliya Riaz, Fatima Sana, Tuba Hassan, Sadia Iqbal, Nashra Sandhu, Syeda Aroob Shah.
