Women's Asia Cup 2022: Inoka Ranaweera bamboozles Bangladesh batting line-up as Sri Lanka wins thriller

Team Sri Lanka stole victory from the jaws of defeat as they defended a target of 41 runs in seven overs (DLS) in a group-stage encounter of the 2022 Women's Asia Cup against Bangladesh on Monday, October 10. With this victory, they are now placed third in the points table.

Talking about the match, Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bowl first on a slow wicket. A massive jolt was received by the batting side as skipper Chamari Athapaththu was sent all the way back in just the second over of the match. 

Opener Harshita Madavi and Anushka Sanjeewani tried to form a partnership as they both pushed their team's total over the 30-run mark. However, opener Madavi was scalped on her score of 18 runs where she took 31 balls and stroked two boundaries. 

The home team got on top as they scalped another wicket on the next ball and this time it was Sanjeewani who looked settled at the wicket after playing 13 deliveries and scoring eight runs. Hasini Perera and Nilakshi de Silva then started to rebuild Sri Lanka's innings. 

The duo formed a crucial partnership of 29 runs before  Fahima Khatun got the better of Perera as she went back to the pavilion after making 11 runs. Kavisha Dilhari tried to remain positive in her batting, but she was also scalped on 11 runs. 

De Silva was the pick of batters from the Lanka side as she remained unbeaten for her 28 runs before rain interrupted the match as Sri Lanka's innings came to an end on a score of 83/5 in 18.1 overs. 

Bangladesh was given a revised target of 41 runs in seven overs

Chasing just 41 runs to win, Bangladesh batters gave a poor start to their team. Both openers, Fargana Hoque and Murshida Khatun failed to get going as they left their team in some sort of trouble. 

The skipper Nigar Sultana and Rumana Ahmed then formed a small, but a crucial partnership to reach near the target. However, the match turned on its head during the second last over of the match. With 14 required off the last two overs, the ball was handed to Inoka Ranaweera and she wreaked havoc while picking a total of four wickets, with one wicket resulting in a run-out.

She finished her spell after giving just seven runs in two overs and taking four wickets. Oshadi Ranasinghe also took one wicket for her side as the home team was restricted to just 37/7 in its allotted seven overs and lost the encounter by three runs.