Sri Lanka start off in style

Sri Lanka kicked off the Twenty20 International section of the ICC Women’s Cricket Challenge with a bang as it won both of its opening fixtures, against Pakistan and then against Ireland, on Thursday, in Potchefstroom.

Choosing to field first after winning the toss on a windy and overcast day, Sri Lanka proceeded to dismiss the Pakistani batters in quick succession, Marina Iqbal was the highest scorer with 16 runs before she was caught out by Manodara Surangika off Lasanthi Madushani.

After that, it seemed that there was nothing Pakistan could do as it became a procession. Captain Sana Mir, who had shown great skill in the ODI section of the tournament departed after making just one run, while miscommunication resulted in three run outs and Pakistan were bowled out for a meagre 80.

Sri Lanka easily knocked off the required runs for the loss of only two wickets, with five overs to spare.

However, the side’s second match was not as easily won, when it faced an Irish team desperate for a win. Having won the toss again, Sri Lanka elected to bat with Galagedera top scoring with 28 off 23 balls.

Laura Delany and Isobel Joyce showed some aggressive bowling, each taking two wickets. Sri Lanka posted 127 for six after the alloted 20 overs.

Ireland’s opening batters put on 37 runs before Clare Shillington was bowled by Sripali Weerakkody for 14 runs in the fourth over.

Despite putting up a brave fight, Sri Lanka took crucial wickets, including that of Joyce for 37 runs and key top order batters Jill Whelan and Nikki Symmons and ultimately won by 11 runs.

Coach Harsha De Silva is satisfied with the improvement his side has shown, “The comprehensive win against Pakistan is what gave the team the confidence they needed getting into this game (against Ireland).

“Ireland showed great fight and that game was a little too close for comfort, but we will take it. We have bowled better and the fielding has been really good, the players will look to continue in the same path in order for us to reach the final on Saturday.”

In other matches, West Indies brought its good form from the ODI’s into the T20Is when it beat South Africa by six wickets, with 19 balls to spare.

After winning the toss and choosing to field first, West Indies proceeded to show the hosts why the team were semi-finalists at this year’s ICC Women’s World Twenty20 in the West Indies.

Stacey-Ann King with three for 19 was instrumental in limiting South Africa to a meagre 98 all out with just one ball remaining of its allotted overs.

The West Indies response was wobbly to begin with when Pearl Etienne was bowled by Shabnum Ismail for four runs in the second over, but Juliana Nero soon got the side into run-scoring mode with 39 off 44-balls before she was run out by Mignon du Preez in the 13th over.

The difference between the two sides became clearer as the women from the Caribbean continued to fight for victory despite being four wickets down, Deandra Dottin and King led the side to glory with Dottin striking a smart 28 off 17-balls.

When South Africa faced the Netherlands in the afternoon, the hosts were down but not out.

A change of attitude from the openers saw an impressive four world records broken.

Opening batter, Fritz (116 not out) broke the record for the highest individual runs scored by a woman in a Twenty20 International and her 170-run opening partnership with Chetty (55) is now the highest opening partnership to date in women’s T20 cricket.

South Africa lost just the wicket of Chetty when she was run out by Denise Prins in the 17th over and the hosts concluded its 20 overs with a mammoth total of 205 runs, the highest posted by a women’s team in a T20.

The Netherlands response was snuffed out from the beginning by South African debutante, Masabata Klaas, who dismissed opening bat Annemarie Tanke for just four runs in the first over. The Dutch ladies failed to consolidate any partnerships and were all out for 90 in their allocated 20 overs.

The victory thus gave South Africa another record, the highest winning margin to date in a women’s T2I, 115 runs.