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Chamari hero as Sri Lanka Women’s thump New Zealand Women’s by 10 wickets
The captain of the Sri Lanka Women’s Cricket team, Chamari Athapaththu blasted 80 runs off 47 balls to steer Sri Lanka to a comfortable 10-wicket win over New Zealand women’s in the third and final T20 match at the P Sara Oval, on Wednesday.
The victory was a consolation for the hosts, who had lost the first two matches in the series.
Sri Lanka winning the toss and opting to ball first, paid immediate success when they were reduced to 3-73 inside the first 10 overs.
New Zealand lasses who had a torrid time in the middle with the bat were seen struggling to score runs where none of their batters poses a threat to the Lankan bowlers.
When the chips were down Inform batter Suzie Bates once again rescued New Zealand with 37 runs off 38 deliveries, including 6 fours while skipper Sophie Devine played a quickfire innings, contributing 46 runs off just 25 balls, which included 2 fours and 3 sixes to help them post a decent score on the board at the end of the allotted 20 overs.
In the bowling front, Inoka Ranaweera took 3 wickets for 15 runs while Sugandika Kumari took two wickets.
During the chase, it was a dream start for the Chamari and co as they cruised to 64 runs within the powerplay without losing a wicket.
Interestingly Chamari did the bulk in the powerplay where she scored 45 runs of the 64 runs in the powerplay.
Athapaththu reached her half-century in just 25 balls which was registered as the fastest 50 scored by a Sri Lankan woman in T20is.
She finished off the game unbeaten with 80 runs, of which she scored 13 boundaries and two sixes.
Harshitha Samarawickrama also played handy innings with a fighting unbeaten 49 off 40 deliveries to take their team to a record win.
She smashed three consecutive boundaries in the 14th over to complete the chase in style with 33 balls to spare.
Chamari and Harshitha’s record-breaking 143-run partnership also created history as Sri Lanka’s highest partnership.
The dominant win also saw Sri Lanka create a new record for the highest 10-wicket run chase in women’s T20i history.
There is little doubt over Chamari Athapaththu being the greatest female batter in Sri Lankan history. She has scored the top ten individual scores for Sri Lanka Women and has been the backbone of women’s cricket.
After her record-shattering performance in the recently concluded ODI series against New Zealand Women, she scaled the top of the ICC rankings for batters in Women’s ODIs, an achievement that is in equal parts fitting and historic.
Athapaththu also became just the second Sri Lankan cricketer across gender to reach No.1 in the ICC ODI batters’ rankings. Sanath Jayasuriya remains the only other to have reached that mark. He was the No.1 ranked batter in Men’s ODIs between 2002 and 2003.
Scores: New Zealand 140/9 (Devine 46, Ranaweera 3-15, Kumari 2-23) lost to Sri Lanka 143 for 0 (Athapaththu 80 not out, Samarawickrama 49 not out) by 10 wickets.
චමරි ගේ අනර්ඝ ඉනිමෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රිඩිකාවන්ට කඩුළු 10ක ජයක්
ශ්‍රී ලංකා කාන්තා ක්‍රිකට් කණ්ඩායමේ නායිකා චමරි අතපත්තු පන්දු 47කදී ලකුණු 80ක් රැස්කරමින් නවසීලන්ත කාන්තා පිලට එරෙහිව පී සරා ඕවල් ක්‍රීඩාංගණයේදී බදාදා පැවැති තෙවැනි සහ අවසන් විස්සයි20 තරගයෙන් කඩුලු 10ක පහසු ජයක් අත්කර ගැනීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකා පිලට හැකිවිය.
තරගාවලියේ පළමු තරග දෙක පරාජයට පත්ව සිටි සත්කාරක කණ්ඩායමට මෙම ජයග්‍රහණය අස්වැසිල්ලක් විය.
කාසියේ වාසිය දිනා පළමුව පන්දු යැවීමට තීරණය කළ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව විසින් නවසීලන්ත ක්‍රීඩිකාවන් පළමු ඕවර 10 තුළ ලකුණු 3-73කට සීමා කළහ.
පන්දු 38 කදී හතරේ පහර 6 ක් ඇතුළුව ලකුණු 37 ක් රැස්කරමින් නවසීලන්ත ඉනිම ගොඩනැගූ සුසී බේට්ස් යළිත් වරක් නවසීලන්තය බේරා ගත් අතර නායිකා සොෆී ඩිවින් පන්දු 25 කදී හතරේ පහර 2 ක් සහ හයේ පහර 3 ක් සමඟින් ලකුණු 46 ක් රැස් කළාය. නියමිත පන්දුවාර 20 අවසානයේ ඔවුන් සහනදායි ලකුණු පුවරුවක් ලබා ගත්හ.
පන්දු යැවීමේ පෙරමුණේ ඉනෝකා රණවීර ලකුණු 15කට කඩුලු 3ක් දවාගත් අතර සුගන්දිකා කුමාරි කඩුලු 2ක් දවා ගත්තාය.
හඹා යාමේදී කිසිඳු කඩුල්ලක් නොදැවී මුල් පන්දුවාර හය තුළ ලකුණු 64ක් ලබා සිටියදී චමරි ඇතුළු කණ්ඩායමට එය අගනා ආරම්භයක් විය.
සිත්ගන්නා කරුණ නම්, චමරි පවර්ප්ලේ තුළ විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් කළ අතර එහිදී ඇය පවර්ප්ලේ හි ලකුණු 64 න් ලකුණු 45 ක් ලබා ගත්තාය.
අතපත්තු සිය අර්ධ ශතකය පන්දු 25කදී වාර්තා කළ අතර එය විස්සයි20 තරගවලදී ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රීඩිකාවක් රැස් කළ වේගවත්ම ලකුණු 50 ලෙස සටහන් විය.
ඇය නොදැවී ලකුණු 80ක් ලබා තරගය නිමා කළ අතර ඉන් හතරේ පහර 13ක් සහ හයේ පහර 2ක් ඇය ලබා ගත්තාය.
හර්ෂිතා සමරවික්‍රම ද ප්‍රයෝජනවත් ඉනිමක් ක්‍රීඩා කරමින් පන්දු 40 කදී නොදැවී ලකුණු 49 ක් රැස්කරමින් තම කණ්ඩායම වාර්තාගත ජයග්‍රහණයක් කරා රැගෙන යාමට සමත් විය.
ඇය 14 වැනි ඕවරයේ පිට පිට හතරේ පහර 3ක් එල්ලකළ අතර පන්දු 33ක් ඉතිරිව තිබියදී එම හඹා යාම සාර්ථක කර ගත්තාය.
චමරි සහ හර්ෂිතාගේ වාර්තාගත ලකුණු 143 සබඳතාව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඉහළම සබඳතාව ලෙස ඉතිහාසයට එක්විය.
මෙම ප්‍රමුඛ ජයග්‍රහණයත් සමඟින් කාන්තා T20i ඉතිහාසයේ වැඩිම කඩුලු 10 ලකුණු හඹා යාමේ නව වාර්තාවක් බිහි කිරීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සමත් විය.
චමරි අතපත්තු ශ්‍රී ලංකා ඉතිහාසයේ විශිෂ්ඨතම ක්‍රීඩිකාව වීම ගැන සැකයක් නැත. ඇය ශ්‍රී ලංකා කාන්තා ක්‍රිකට් කණ්ඩායම වෙනුවෙන් සිය දායකත්වය හොඳින්ම ලබා දෙන අතර කාන්තා ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාවේ කොඳු නාරටිය වූවාය.
නවසීලන්ත කාන්තා පිලට එරෙහිව පසුගියදා නිමාවට පත් වූ එක්දින තරගාවලියේදී ඇයගේ වාර්තා බිඳහෙළන දස්කම් දැක්වීමෙන් පසුව, කාන්තා එක්දින තරගවලදී පිතිකරුවන් සඳහා අයිසීසී ශ්‍රේණිගත කිරීම්වල ඉහළින්ම වැජඹීමට ඇය සමත් වූවාය.
අතපත්තු ICC ODI පිතිකරුවන් ශ්‍රේණිගත කිරීම්වල අංක 1 ස්ථානයට පැමිණි දෙවන ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩකයා බවට පත් විය. සනත් ජයසූරිය එම ලකුණට පැමිණි අනෙක් එකම පුද්ගලයා වේ. ඔහු 2002 සහ 2003 අතර පිරිමි එක්දින තරඟාවලියේ අංක 1 පිතිකරුවා විය.
ලකුණු: නවසීලන්තය 140/9 (ඩෙවින් 46, රණවීර 3-15, කුමාරි 2-23) ශ්‍රී ලංකාව කඩුලු 0කට 143 (අතපත්තු නොදැවී 80, සමරවික්‍රම 49) කඩුලු 10කින් පරාජයට පත් විය.
COLOMBO – Defending champions CR & FC are set to face their toughest challenge yet when they go head-to-head with arch-rivals Havelock Sports Club in a highly anticipated encounter for the prestigious Commander Eustace Matthihz Trophy. This week 8 fixture of the Mastercard ‘A’ Division Inter-Club League Rugby Tournament is scheduled to kick off at Havelock Park tomorrow at 4:00 PM.
CR & FC’s Dominant Run
CR & FC have been in red-hot form, maintaining an unblemished record this season with six consecutive wins. Their campaign has seen commanding victories over Sri Lions (43-13), Navy (39-13), Army (38-10), Air Force (24-20), CH & FC (27-22), and Police (40-20), making them the team to beat.
Havelocks’ Strong Challenge
Havelock SC have also displayed top-tier rugby, securing impressive wins against Navy (43-15), Air Force (30-19), Sri Lions (43-13), Army (28-19), and CH & FC (27-21). Their only setback came against Kandy SC in a closely contested match (20-24), highlighting their ability to compete at the highest level.
CR & FC’s Attacking Arsenal
A key strength for CR & FC lies in their electrifying backline. The halfback combination of Rushen Bandaranayake and Thenuka Nanayakkara has orchestrated play with precision, while centres Manilka Ruberu and captain Gemunu Chethiya have been relentless in breaking defensive lines. Winger Randy Silva adds an extra attacking edge, consistently exploiting spaces with his speed. Fullback Mursheed Doray has been a game-changer, frequently joining the attack and proving clinical with his goal-kicking accuracy.
Havelocks’ Counterplay
Havelocks also boast a formidable backline capable of turning the tide in their favor. The playmaking duo of Rifan Mohamed and Sandesh Jayawickrama has shown excellent control, setting up attacking opportunities for their teammates. Centre Mushin Faleel has been instrumental in breaching defenses, while winger Jayathu Rajaratne, a former DS Senanayake College captain, has been in stellar form, crossing the try line in nearly every game. Fullback Samuel Maduwantha adds depth with his tactical kicking and composure under pressure.
High-Octane Clash Expected
With both teams featuring dynamic backlines, sharp goal-kickers, and a thirst for victory, this match promises to be an exhilarating contest. CR & FC aim to extend their unbeaten streak, while Havelocks will be determined to leverage their home advantage and deliver a major upset.
Matchday Squads
Havelock SC: Shihan Silva, Azmir Fajudeen, Abdullah Faiz (captain), Janidu Fernando, Thiven Perera, Maleesha Madumevan, Shenal Deelaka, Chathura Dilshan, Rifan Mohamed, Sandesh Jayawickrama, KD Kavinda, Mushin Faleel, Sudesh Jayawickrama, Jayathu Rajaratne, Samuel Maduwantha.
CR & FC: Tineth Gamage, Venura Kodagoda, Thanuja Jayaweera, Shenal Adhikaram, Naveen Marasinghe, Samitha Warnakulasuriya, Raveen de Silva, Adeesha Weeratunga, Rushen Bandaranayake, Thenuka Nanayakkara, Gemunu Chethiya (captain), Manilka Ruberu, Randy Silva, Rinesh Silva/Aaron Corera, Mursheed Doray.
GALLE – The Sri Lankan cricket team faced one of its most crushing defeats in Test history as Australia secured victory by an innings and 242 runs at the Galle International Stadium. This defeat marks Sri Lanka’s worst-ever loss in Test cricket, surpassing the innings and 239-run defeat against India in Nagpur (2017).
Dominant Australian Batting Performance
Australia set an imposing total of 654/6 declared in their first innings, thanks to a masterful double century from Usman Khawaja (232 off 352 balls) and a classy 141 from Steven Smith (251 balls). The Sri Lankan bowling attack, led by Prabath Jayasuriya (3/193) and Jeffrey Vandersay (3/182), struggled to contain the Australian batsmen, who dominated for 154 overs.
Sri Lanka’s Batting Collapse
Sri Lanka’s response was far from convincing as they were bundled out for just 165 in their first innings. Dinesh Chandimal showed some resistance with a gritty 72 off 139 balls, but the rest of the batting lineup faltered against Australia’s disciplined bowling attack. Left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann was the standout performer, picking up 5/63 in 18.2 overs, while veteran spinner Nathan Lyon claimed 3/57.
Follow-on Fails to Save Sri Lanka
Forced to follow on, Sri Lanka managed 247 in their second innings, with Jeffrey Vandersay top-scoring with a counterattacking 53 off 47 balls. Angelo Mathews contributed 41, but their efforts were not enough to avoid a humiliating defeat. Nathan Lyon (4/78) and Matthew Kuhnemann (4/86) once again led the charge, dismantling the Sri Lankan batting order with precision.
Record-Breaking Defeat for Sri Lanka
With this victory, Australia registered their biggest-ever Test win against Sri Lanka, surpassing their innings and 201-run triumph in Melbourne (2012). This defeat also ranks as one of Sri Lanka’s worst losses in history:
- By innings & 242 runs – vs Australia, Galle, 2025
- By innings & 239 runs – vs India, Nagpur, 2017
- By innings & 229 runs – vs South Africa, Cape Town, 2001
Galle, January 30, 2025 – Australia stamped their authority on the opening Test of the Murali-Warner Test Series against Sri Lanka, posting a mammoth 654/6 before declaring on Day 2 at the Galle International Stadium. The hosts found themselves in deep trouble at 44/3, with rain halting play and adding to their woes.
Australia’s Batting Masterclass
Australia’s innings was built on a sensational double century by Usman Khawaja (232 off 290) and a commanding 141 from Steve Smith. The duo stitched together a 250-run stand for the third wicket, exhausting Sri Lanka’s bowling attack.
Josh Inglis (100 off 90 balls) added fireworks with a rapid century, while *Alex Carey (46) and Mitchell Starc (19) provided late contributions to push the total past 650. Sri Lanka’s bowlers toiled hard, using three unsuccessful reviews, but failed to contain the visitors.
Sri Lanka’s Struggles Begin
In response, Sri Lanka’s batting crumbled early, losing three wickets for just 44 runs in 15 overs before rain interrupted play. The Aussies struck early, dismissing BOP Fernando cheaply, while Dinesh Chandimal (9*) and Kamindu Mendis (13*) were left to battle against a relentless Australian attack.
Looking Ahead
With Sri Lanka still 610 runs behind, they will need a monumental effort to avoid an innings defeat. The third day will be crucial as the hosts attempt to rebuild and stay in the contest.
Stay tuned for live updates and analysis on Sri Lankan Sports TV!
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