BD W VS SL W MATCH 5

Right then, that is it from this game and from Super Sunday as well. The action in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023 continues on Monday, the 13th of February with two more games. The first game will be played between Ireland Women and England Women at 6.30 pm IST (1 pm GMT). This will be followed by a clash between South Africa Women and New Zealand Women at 10.30 pm IST (5 pm GMT). Both games will be played at Boland Park in Paarl and you can join us for the early build-up as usual. Cheers!

Chamari Athapaththu, the captain of Sri Lanka Women says that she is feeling good and is happy with the performance. Goes on to aplaud Harshitha Madavi and Nilakshi de Silva for the way they batted. Adds that she just tried to play her natural game and unfortunately she got out early but they have more batting depth and have worked a lot on it in the last few months. Mentions that new coach has brought positive vibes and new strategies are working for them and they are looking forward to make it to the semi-finals. Ends up by saying that they need to improve their bowling a bit more and continue to bat positively and play their natural game.

Bangladesh Women skipper, Nigar Sultana says that they started off well in Powerplay. Adds that they did not get boundaries between 6-15 overs. Mentions that they need to work on boundary scoring and were 15-20 runs short in the batting. Lauds Marufa Akter for her efforts with the ball. Says that they could not stop the Sri Lanka Women batters from getting boundaries and they need to work upon it. Adds that 140 plus would have been good on this wicket. Closes by saying that she is looking forward onto their next game against Australia Women.

Harshitha Madavi (69* off 50 balls) is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH. She says her skipper Chamari Athapaththu started off well but after she got dismiseed, she took the responsibility. Adds that it was a bouncy track and she had use her feet to the spinners. Mentions that the SIX she got was a free hit and since it was in her range, she went for it.

The Presentation ceremony...

Earlier in the game, Nigar Sultana opted to bat first on a track that was inconsistent with the bounce and after a blistering start from the top order, the Bangladesh Women innings soon went downhill. Three of the top four batters got to 20 or more runs but then came the squeeze from the Lankan spinner. Oshadi Ranasinghe in particular was brilliant and the skipper, Chamari Athapaththu too had a solid outing with the ball. Sri Lanka Women restricted Bangladesh Women to a low score of 125 runs and after a poor phase of play in which they lost three quick wickets, the Lankans were able to turn things around and get the win.

Bangladesh Women were in the game for a long while but never looked to be on top of proceedings. With not many runs to play with, they didn't have the best of starts with the ball but then came the young Under-19 sensation Marufa Akter into the attack. She picked up three wickets in no time with even a run being scored off her bowling but failed to receive support from the other bowlers. They were a bit sloppy on the field as well and in the end, they simply had no answer to the fine batting display by Harshitha Madavi and Nilakshi de Silva.

Yet another scintillating win for Sri Lanka Women and they have now got off to a perfect start with two wins in a row. Having to chase down a meager total of 126 runs, the openers got off to a pretty good start. But then Chamari Athapaththu fell and the Lankans were all of a sudden three wickets down. Harshitha Madavi though kept continuing to muster up runs and was brilliantly supported by Nilakshi de Silva. The pair put on 104 runs for the fourth wicket with Madavi notching up a half-century as Sri Lanka Women went on to win the game with ease. They have now won back-to-back games in a T20 World Cup for the very first time.

FOUR! Harshitha Madavi does it in style for Sri Lanka Women and roars in joy. Full and outside off. Harshitha Madavi drives it through covers for a boundary. A terrific run chase by Sri Lanka Women as they beat the Bangladesh Women by 7 wickets with 10 balls to spare. Nilakshi de Silva and Harshitha Madavi have added 104 unbeaten runs off 79 balls and have taken Sri Lanka Women home with a win.

Flatter on off stump. Nilakshi de Silva goes back and pulls it to a deep square leg for one.

Full and outside off. Harshitha Madavi drives it to the deep backward point region. A slight misfield allows the batter to take the second.

Good length sliding down the leg. Nilakshi de Silva helps it away to a short fine leg for one.

FOUR! On a length outside off. Nilakshi de Silva reaches out for the cut shot and bottom edges it to the third man region for four.

On a length on the stumps. Harshitha Madavi turns it away to short fine leg for one.

WIDE! Good length angling across and going outside the tramline. Harshitha Madavi reaches out for cut but misses it.

Full again just outside off. Nilakshi de Silva swats it to the deep mid-wicket region for one.

Full and on the off stump line. Nilakshi de Silva whips it to the deep square leg region for a couple.