Chamari Athapaththu's Wicket- (Source: @ScreenGrab)
The Women's T20 World Cup 2024 match between Australia and Sri Lanka is underway at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in UAE. The Charmari Athapaththu-led side won the toss and opted to bat first. However, their decision backfired as Sri Lanka lost two early wickets.
Opener Vishmi Gunaratne was the first to depart as she returned to the pavilion with a ten-ball duck. Expectations were high from Chamari as she had a brilliant Asia Cup, but she failed with the bat and scored just 3 (12).
Sri Lanka Women vs Australia Women: Athapaththu Fails Again
On the 2nd ball of the 4th over, Athapaththu fell prey to Ashleigh Gardner after she trapped her in front of the wickets. Earlier, the umpire did not raise her finger, but Gardner opted for a review. It turned out to be a masterstroke as the replay showed three reds and the Sri Lankan skipper returned to the dugout.
A Tournament To Forget For Athapaththu
It is a must-win match for Sri Lanka, as the Island Nation suffered a shocking defeat against Pakistan in their tournament opener. Against Pakistan, Sri Lanka bowlers restricted the Fatima Sana-led side to just 116 runs. However, the batters were again disappointing, and Sri Lanka could only post 85 runs on the board after 20 overs.
Athapaththu failed in the first match as well and scored just 6 (9), which featured a solitary four. Building up to the World Cup, Chamari was touted to be the leading run-getter in the tournament as she had a stellar Asia Cup 2024 and scored 304 runs in five matches, which featured a century and two fifty-plus scores, including one in the final.
She averaged 101 in the Asia Cup and continued her great form in WCPL, where she scored 129 runs in four innings, averaging 43. At the time of writing this article, Sri Lanka are 36/3 after 8.1 overs.
 "Abhinav Tyagi")
