In the third and final ODI of the tour against Ireland in Belfast, Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama made it a canter for Sri Lanka, but Achini Kulasuriya’s potent bowling display made their task easy. Ireland, who had already won the series 2-0, collapsed to 10 for 3 in five overs when Kulasuriya took three wickets. Shortly after, that turned into 28 for 5, but they eventually bounced back to post 122. But with Athapaththu tearing up the board, it was never going to be sufficient.
“In the final ODI of the tour, Kulasuriya and Athapaththu lead Sri Lanka to a consolation victory.”
This time, Athapaththu won the toss and chose to bowl, but Sri Lanka wouldn’t have predicted the early rewards they would receive. In fact, Ireland scored 255 for 5, good for a victory by 15 runs, thanks to half-centuries from Amy Hunter (66), Leah Paul (81) and Rebecca Stokell (53*), when Sri Lanka chose to field in the previous game.
On this occasion, though, Sarah Forbes and Hunter were dismissed for ducks after quick bowler Kulasuriya struck off the first two balls of the innings. The captain, Orla Prendergast, fell next, for three, likewise to Kulasuriya. With a wicket apiece from Amy Kanchana and Inoshi Priyadharshani, the score was 28 for 5 in the fifteenth over.
The comeback was brought about by Paul and Arlene Kelly. Even though it was excruciatingly slow at times, they managed to score 36 runs in less than 15 overs between them. Kelly was beginning to gain momentum, but Paul was dismissed by Sachini Nsiansala for 19 runs (in 53 balls), and another wave of wickets fell. Athapaththu took the first wicket from Canning and the second from Kelly, and between them, he and Nisansala concluded the innings.
Priyadharshini’s impressive 10-5-7-1 economy rate of 0.70 ranks her second among Sri Lanka’s female cricketers’ most economical ODI spells, only surpassed by Rose Dovey’s 1 for 5 (eight maidens) against Pakistan in 2002.With scores of 0 and 22 in the opening two games, Athapaththu’s ODI series had been quiet. In those two matches, her opening partner Vishmi Gunaratne and No. 3 Samarawickrama took control in Athapaththu’s place, scoring centuries, but Ireland was the stronger team both times.
This time, Athapaththu dominated the first wicket stand of 32 with Gunaratne. In the next eleven and a half overs, he and Samarawickrama put on a 62-run stand for the second wicket, which helped Sri Lanka reach 94 with 32 overs remaining to score 29 runs. Athapaththu scored 48 runs off of 49 balls, 10 of which were fours.
The victory was imminent, and Samarawickrama led Sri Lanka there with an undefeated 48 in 56 balls, including seven fours of her own. At the end, which came in 23.1 overs, Kavisha Dilhari shared 10 off 15 balls with her.
The two-match T20I series ended 1-1, and Ireland went on to win the ODI series 2-1.
Brief scores: Ireland Women 122 in 46.3 overs (Arlene Kelly 35; Chamari Athapaththu 3-15, Achini Kulasuriya 3-35, Sachini Nisansala 2-35, Inoshi Priyadharshani 1-07, Ama Kanchana 1-14) were defeated by Sri Lanka Women 123 for 2 in 23.1 overs (Harshitha Samarawickrama 48*, Chamari Athapaththu 48; Ava Canning 1-14, Freya Sargent 1-38) by eight wickets.
