Australian women's cricket team began their Women's T20 World Cup with a win but the six-time champions would be aware of the fact that it was anything but convincing. The bowlers did their job extremely well restricting Sri Lanka to just 93 but while batting they needed a Beth Mooney special to steer them away from trouble as they did lose four wickets on the way. Sri Lanka got off to the worst start possible with the bat and skipper Chamari Athapaththu's wicket proved to be the clincher in the end.
Athapaththu has had a sensational record against Australia across formats with the bat and Megan Schutt and Ash Gardner were able to keep both her and Vishmi Gunaratne quiet. However, Australian captain Alyssa Healy probably deserves huge credit for Athapaththu's wicket. Athapaththu was really cautious in her approach and was blocking Ash Gardner's deliveries. Her approach not only frustrated the bowler but also the keeper, Healy, who chirped a few words at her from behind the stumps.
"Play a shot, Chamari," said Heally. On the very next delivery, the lapse in concentration meant Athapaththu went for a wild sweep but the length wasn't there and she was plumb in front by Gardner. Australia got a huge wicket as they knew how dangerous she could be. Gunratne's 10-ball duck had already put Sri Lanka in a tricky position and Athapaththu's wicket just put the nail in the coffin.
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Harshitha Madavi and Nilashi de Silva did take Sri Lanka's innings forward but never it looked like they were taking the game away from Australia. Sri Lanka got close to 100 but needed to bowl out of their skins to defend a sub-par score. Sri Lanka did get a couple of wickets early but with the experience they have, Australia were the favourites and they clipped off the target in 14 overs.
