It's called the group of death and rightly so as Sri Lanka have joined the likes of Australia, India, Pakistan and New Zealand in Group A in the Women's T20 World Cup 2024 after winning the qualifiers in Abu Dhabi rather comfortably. Skipper Chamari Athapaththu single-handedly poured cold water over Scotland's dream of avenging their only loss in the tournament before the final by smashing her second T20I century and first by a woman in a T20I knockout on Tuesday, May 7.
Scotland, who were coming off a successful chase against Ireland, having sealed the qualification in the semi-final, fancied their chances to go again with the bat in the second innings, however, Athapaththu had other ideas as she came up clutch yet again for his side when it mattered the most. Athapaththu scored 102 off 63 balls and the rest of the batters contributed for 58 off 57, with extras excluded.
The batting display from Athapaththu was just another reminder of the level she operates on, which is completely different and above than all the players in her team. And since it's a team game, Sri Lanka continue to benefit from the genius and she was in mood to take on the bowlers from the start.
Sri Lanka lost both their openers inside the powerplay and Athapaththu had to let her guard down. Kavisha Dilhari's wicket soon after powerplay didn't help and once Athapaththu and Nilakshika Silva had done the repair work, the skipper decided it was time to go.
Silva held one end and just kept giving Athapaththu strike and that's what she all had to do. Athapaththu brought up her fifty off 40 balls, before smashing the next 50 in just 20 balls in outrageous acceleration as she deflated the Scottish bowling attack, which had started well.
Athapaththu got out soon after her ton but got Sri Lanka to 169, which was always going to be a tough challenge. Priyanaz Chatterji was the only batter to get to 30 as the Sri Lankan bowling attack led by the veteran Udeshika Prabodhani didn't let the Scotland batting line-up to settle. The Scots definitely missed their skipper Kathryn Bryce and even though there was a couple of late cameos, 170 was always a bridge too far for them.
Scotland now find themselves in Group B alongside England, South Africa, Bangladesh and West Indies. The Women's T20 World Cup begins on October 3 and finishes on October 20 in Bangladesh.
