Chamarie Attapathu, the Sri Lankan skipper, got two equations right yesterday by dropping Achini Kulasooriya and Prabodhini from the playing eleven, whistle opting to bat being the second wise decision.
I hope for the sake of cricket, the two players I mentioned above call it a day. How did New Zealand let Sri Lanka off the hook by leaking 257 runs a defendable score for the Sri Lankan lassies in home conditions.
Sophie Divine and her power filled out fit missed out on vital DRS reviews, stumping opportunities, and butter fingured palms in total missing 9 opportunities. Appaling to state the least , the question we pose to Kiwi Queens is , did they take Sri Lanka for granted ? If they did , they were lucky to get away , since rain, the well-known spoil spoil sport, smiled in their favour and avoided an embarrassment of being beaten by a team with lesser grading.
It was great to see Attapathu have a different approach in her batting. She played through the line , proper cricketing strokes to score her 20th half century in 72 balls with 7 boundaries, with a clear intent of positivity with deliveries within her hitting zone.
Her fellow opener Vishmi Gunaratne was very circumspect in her stroke play , she took 83 balls to make her 44 at a strike rate of 50 , however exposed her weakness on the front foot by closing the face of the bat , which the experts stated she has a mindset to play on the on side , hence international teams will try to exploit this cradle habit.
The pair stiched an opening stand of 105 runs , Vismi was adjudicated as an LBW, victim, but was overturned thanks to DRS.
After the departure of Attapathu, playing a favourite shot in the air , towards the cover boundary off Sophie Divine, Sri Lanka, as envisaged, got into a shell.
Vishmi Gunaratne departed with the score on 125 . It was encouraging to see Hasini Perera, who made a stroke filled 44, joined by Harshitha Samarawickrama, and the pair looked composed but lacked power hitting. However, credit must be given to the left-hand right-hand combination for sticthing together a partnership that took SriLanka to 183.
Remember what the com box stated , that Sri Lanka must get to at least 240 as a par score , but do they have the power hitter to get them there ?
Yes , it was Nilakshi de Silva cometh the hour, cometh the lady with talent, she thumped 58 runs in 28 balls, the quickest 50 in World Cup 2025 , so far beating Shorna Akhtar’s effort against South Africa for Bangladesh on Monday. This was not only fun to watch, but game awareness of understanding the advantages that the team gains with wickets in hand and the meaning of fearless cricket and how to implement it.
Sadly, the uninvited guest spoils the party during the innings break. Awful weather. Puts an end to Sri Lanka’s predicted effort for a win as a no-go scenario with rain.
Sophie Divine 3 for 54, Bree Irling 2 for 39 is all that the White Ferns can home about , but looking at the replay, they will regret their lack of intent displayed in leaking runs.
Both teams share a point each.
Today, England plays Pakistan. It looks like the monsoon has raised its head , let’s
hope for the best for some cricket .