On Saturday, July 20, at Dambulla, Sri Lanka hosted Bangladesh in the fourth match of the current Women’s Asia Cup 2024. Bangladesh, having chosen to bat first, would have hoped for a better start, but they were put in a difficult situation as they lost four wickets in the powerplay. Their early collapse proved too much to overcome, and they lost by seven wickets to clinch their destiny.
In retrospect, the result was clear from the first over of the game. Udeshika Prabodhani, a left-arm medium pacer, made an incredible comeback, taking two wickets in a row after giving up a boundary earlier in the spell. Then, in the powerplay itself, Inoshi Priyadharshani struck twice more, taking wickets in the second and sixth overs of the innings, respectively. Bangladesh was left in a difficult situation, needing to work extremely hard to reach 18/4 after six overs.
It was skipper Nigar Sultana’s responsibility to lead Bangladesh forward. She started off conservatively, managing just six runs in her first eighteen balls. Bangladesh reached 46 without any more mishaps before the conclusion of the tenth over, however Shorifa Khatun was removed by the increasing strain. After Rabeya Khan was dismissed, Bangladesh was at 65/6, and it didn’t appear like they would make it to 100.
But Shorna Akter’s (25 off 14) well-timed blow allowed Bangladesh to end their innings at 111/8. Considering the hazardous condition they were in earlier in the piece, this was a respectable turnaround despite a very poor total. Sultana finished unbeaten on 48 off 59, just two runs short of her ninth T20I half-century.
Nahida Akter made her first breakthrough when captain Chamari Athapaththu gave in, just when it looked like the hosts would win the powerplay. Athapaththu, who is known for her accurate striking, especially when shooting down the ground, made an unusual mistake this time and ended up hitting long-on. But the Lankans are no longer dependent on a single man, as they have shown time and time again this season.
At the crease, Harshitha Samarawickrama joined Vishmi Gunaratne, and the two skillfully managed the innings. They took advantage of sporadic boundary possibilities and, in the absence of such opportunities, skillfully moved the ball into wide spaces to maintain the scoreboard’s ticking motion with well-placed singles.
Gunaratne was the main aggressor in this relationship, with Samarawickrama happily taking on a supporting role. Together, they scored 54 runs, which greatly put the hosts ahead of the competition.
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Bangladesh Women lost their ninth T20I match of 2024 despite Akter’s outstanding performance, which included tidying up Gunaratne after her half-century and claiming a return catch to remove Samarawickrama, securing a three-wicket haul and producing the most economical figures from either side in the match.
Here’s how X reacted to the game to match 4 of the Women’s Asia Cup 2024:
Srilanka Womens
#AsiaCup2024
— 𝗧𝗲𝗷𝘂 ♡︎ (@NerdyBoy024) July 20, 2024
So India vs Bangladesh and Sri Lanka vs Pakistan Semifinals.
Asia cup in Women’s Cricket is like scripted. ACC should directly play semis and final. Everytime we have same lineups.
— Saurabh (@Saurabh777772) July 20, 2024
Vishmi Gunaratne is one of the big reasons why Sri Lanka no longer lose hope once Chamari Athapaththu gets out
Definite future Sri Lanka captain & a batter who is learning & improving all the time#AsiaCup2024 #WomensAsiaCup2024 #WomensAsiaCup #BANvSL
— Mohit Shah (@mohit_shah17) July 20, 2024
Women’s Asia Cup update :+#SriLanka beat #Bangladesh Women’s by 7 wickets in the #AsiaCup2024 .
Vishmi Gunaratne played a match-winning knock of 51(48) runs.#AsiaCup2024#SLWvsBANW pic.twitter.com/1jhsh97A60
— sports news (@CricUniverse7) July 20, 2024
The Women’s Asia Cup Table after every team has played their maiden match
#CricketTwitter #BANvSL #SriLanka #Bangladesh #India pic.twitter.com/RQuPMm5GgJ
— TheCricketCorner (@crikworld7) July 20, 2024
YAS Queens!
Sri Lanka Women’s Cricket team CRUSHES Bangladesh in their Asia Cup opener!
#ApeKello #අපේකෙල්ලෝ #SLW #WomensAsiaCup2024 #ACC #HerStory #SLWvBANW pic.twitter.com/0wE5o1PFxE
— Vimukthi Dushantha
Women’s Asia Cup 2024 4 th T20
Match :
Srilanka won by
wickets
Vishmi Gunaratne score 51 runs
wickets each #SLvBAN #CricketTwitter #AsiaCup
: ACC pic.twitter.com/IvM931QFwd
— Thewomencricketworld (@Thewomencricke1) July 20, 2024
50+ score on Women’s T20 Asia Cup debut innings
– Jemimah Rodrigues (India) – 76 v Sri Lanka, 2022
– Samjhana Khadka (Nepal) – 72* v UAE, 2024
– Murshida Khatun (Bangladesh) – 56 v Malaysia, 2022
– Vishmi Gunaratne (Sri Lanka) – 51 v Bangladesh, 2024#WomensAsiaCup2024 pic.twitter.com/UkED3hcXzY— Wealthy&WiseIndex (@WWiseindex) July 20, 2024
Sri Lanka breeze to a win in their Women’s T20 Asia Cup opener against Bangladesh.
: https://t.co/G8Z7znKl3x |
— ICC (@ICC) July 20, 2024
India
