Navi Mumbai, Oct 21 (PTI) The seven-run victory reignited their slim semifinal hopes but Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu wasn’t too pleased with her team’s performance against Bangladesh in a crucial Women’s World Cup match here.
Nonetheless, Athapaththu said her team would wait for a “miracle” to happen and give its best against Pakistan in its final league match on October 24 in Colombo.
Sri Lanka were positioned second last in points table before they stunningly turned the tables on Bangladesh for their first win in six matches to move to the sixth spot, joining India and New Zealand in a tight race for the semifinals with four points each.
“The way we batted, I am not happy because we had a good start but we didn’t continue. As a captain, I am not happy the way we played because we are really good team but we did not play up to our potential,” Athapaththu told the media here on Sunday, referring to the team’s collapse from 174/4 to 202 all out on a good batting track.
“We (will) try our best, play our best game in next game and beat Pakistan, finish on a high. If (any) miracle happens, let’s see.” Athapaththu took 4/42 and her final over saw Bangladesh, needing nine to win, lose four wickets and the game in another thrilling finish in the World Cup.
Sri Lanka bowlers had to deal with the familiar issue of dew in the second innings here at the DY Patil Stadium and an inspired fight-back from Bangladesh, who were taken to the cusp of a famous win by skipper Nigar Sultana Joty (77) and Sharmin Akhter Supta (64 retired hurt).
“…as a bowling unit, we (have) done really good job. I know after dew comes, it’s not easy to grip the ball, it’s too hard. As professional players, we can’t say any excuses for those things,” Athapaththu said.
“We have to adapt those conditions. Definitely, we fought so hard till last over. (In) the 49th over, Sugandika Dasanayaka bowled really good.” “She built the pressure and (before) the last over, I talked to my teammates and Udeshika Prabodhani, our most senior bowler. I asked, ‘can you bowl’? She said, ‘no Chamari, you are in mood so you bowl last over’.” Athapaththu said what worked for her was the awareness that only Sultana would play with a straight bat and the rest of the Bangladesh batters would hit across the line.
“I tried to bowl full and straight and sometimes I (also) try to bowl yorkers because I know Bangladesh players, only Joty can play straight, they all (were) trying to play across the line,” she said.
Sri Lanka will return to Colombo where a couple of weather-affected games and losses in three matches haven’t worked in their favour.
Athapaththu hoped Hasini Perera, whose 85 pushed Sri Lanka’s total to 202, would continue to deliver.
“Unfortunately, she had not scored any fifty in her ODI career (till Sunday), so she’s lucky and we are lucky. She scored good 80 today, a really good innings and I hope she will continue her best performance in next game and future,” she said.
The 35-year-old Athapaththu, who also became the first ever Sri Lanka woman player to make 4,000 ODI runs, said she wishes to see her side make the semifinal of a World Cup.
“It’s big milestone for me. But end of the day…we never make semifinals in any World Cup, (in) any format, so that’s what I want to see before I retire. We have a little bit chance, but let’s see,” she said.
Sultana’s heartbreak ============== Bangladesh captain Sultana said they wanted to finish the game with a few overs remaining but lost too many wickets in the end.
“The way we batted, that game should not have gone into the last over, we should have finished the game in the second last,” Sultana said.
“But we couldn’t get any runs and we kept losing wickets. Me and Supta were batting very well, we were quite settled and then Supta took (time) off (the middle) for cramping.”= “It shifted the momentum to them definitely because me and Shorna (Akter) were there. We had to take some time to build up the partnership and somewhere, we couldn’t find any boundaries as well. It cost us the game,” she said. PTI DDV PM DDV PM PM
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