Chamari Athapaththu
195 not out vs South Africa, third ODI, Potchefstroom
It could not have been scripted better. Athapaththu made history with a career-best score in a record chase. No team in women’s ODI cricket had ever successfully chased a score above 300 before, and Sri Lanka had never even scored 300 in an ODI innings.
Ten days before the match, Athapaththu had hinted at international retirement with a series of cryptic social-media posts, but those thoughts were shelved as she set about dismantling a South Africa side who would have thought they had enough runs on the board. Athapathathu and fellow opener Vishmi Gunaratne got their side off to a solid start with 90 inside the first 16 overs but then Sri Lanka lost four wickets for 36 and it seemed the game was gone. Except, Athapaththu had other ideas.
Two overs after the first wicket fell, she took 14 runs off offspinner Delmi Tucker, serving a reminder of the danger she posed, and once the halfway mark was reached, Athapaththu cut loose. Her century came off 78 balls, she shared in a 179-run fifth-wicket partnership with Nilakshika Silva and commandeered the chase almost single-handedly.
Athapaththu appeared in complete control throughout her innings, oozing belief that the chase was on, underlining her dominance by wrapping up the game with more than five overs to spare.
The win gave Sri Lanka a 1-1 draw in the series and earned them two vital points that contributed to securing automatic qualification for this year’s ODI World Cup.
Key moment
At the halfway stage, Sri Lanka were on 149 for 4, with the required run rate just above six. They needed 153 more off 150 balls. In the next over, Athapaththu got to her hundred with a boundary off Nonkululekho Mlaba, South Africa’s dynamic left-arm spinner, who had conceded only six runs from her first two overs and was the most economical of the attack. From that point on, Sri Lanka were ahead of the game, the required rate staying at six or lower, and Athapaththu appeared unstoppable. Her next 95 runs came off 61 balls, at a strike rate above 155, and she struck 12 more fours and two sixes.