Women’s Asia Cup 2022: Sri Lanka clinch rain-curtailed thriller against Bangladesh 

Inoka Ranaweera claimed four wickets [PC: Twitter]

Sri Lanka clinched a nail-biting thriller against Bangladesh in the ongoing Women's Asia Cup 2022. The rain-curtailed match saw Lanka's Inoka Ranaweera halt Bangladesh's march chasing merely 41 runs.

How it began

Asked to bat first, Sri Lanka were down and out in their innings, scoring just 83 runs in 18.1 overs before the clouds opened up. Nilaskhi de Silva, stood her ground for Sri Lanka, making an unbeaten 31-ball 28. Hasini Perera and Kavihsa Dilhari got off to a start, scoring 11 runs each, but could not maintain the momentum.

Rumana Ahmed starred with the ball for Bangladesh, picking up two wickets for 14, while Jahanara Alam, Fahima Khatun, and Akter claimed one wicket each.

After a delay of almost an hour, play resumed with Bangladesh needing 41 off seven overs after Duckworth–Lewis–Stern calculations.

Ranaweera squeezed runs to keep things under check for Lanka. Panic and poor shot selections from Bangladesh saw them botch up the chase in dramatic fashion.

​Only skipper Nigar Sultana managed a few runs, making 12 runs. Ahmed was the second-highest run-getter with 8.

With 14 to win off 12, the Bangladesh women lost four wickets in the penultimate over, making it 11 in the final over.

Ranaweera picked four wickets, giving away just seven runs, with Oshadi Ranasinghe picking a solitary scalp.

​Sri Lanka held on to their nerves and secured a place in the semi-finals of the tournament, after climbing to third place in the points table.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka Women: 83-5 (18.1)

Nilakshi de Silva 28* 31), Harshitha Madavi 18 (31)
Rumana Ahmed 2-14, Shanjida Akter 1-13

Bangladesh Women: 37-7 (7)

​Nigar Sultana 12 (11), Rumana Ahmed 8 (9)
Inoka Ranaweera 4-7, Oshadi Ranasinghe 1-13

Sri Lanka Women won by three runs via DLS

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