The absence of the ever-reliable Chamari Athapaththu didn't bother Sri Lanka at all as they hammered Ireland in the T20I series opener at the Pembroke Cricket Club in Sandymount, Dublin on Sunday, August 11.
Harshita Samarawickrama stepped up to the occasion in Chamari's absence and played a blazing knock of 86* to help the tourists chase down 146 with 20 balls and seven wickets to spare.
Samarawickrama anchored the chase to perfection and played right till the end as she did in the final of the ACC Women's Asia Cup against India in July.
The southpaw dealt heavily in high percentage shots and blasted 15 fours and a maximum. She batted at a strike rate of 191.11 and therefore never allowed the asking rate to creep beyond their capability.
She opened the innings alongside Vishmi Gunaratne (30 off 34 balls) and aggregated 83 runs for the opening wicket inside the 10 overs.
Freya Sargent provided the first breakthrough for the hosts as she dismissed Gunaratne at the halfway stage.
Ireland bagged two more wickets as they dismissed Kavisha Dilhari and the captain Anushka Sanjeewani but couldn't get past Samarawickrama.
Earlier in the day, Anushka won the toss and elected to field first. Ireland got off to a watchful start but still lost the wicket of Amy Hunter. The first wicket brought Gaby Gaby Lewis and Orla Prendergast together in the middle and the pair stitched a 59-run stand and propelled the team towards a good total.
However, Sri Lanka came back strongly and dismissed the two players in quick succession to deny the hosts the chance of finishing strongly. Ireland lost wickets in clusters thereafter and had to ultimately settle for 145.
The second and final T20I of the series will be played on Tuesday at the same venue and hosts will have the tough task of making a dramatic turnaround.
