Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu (second from left) celebrates with teammates after successful their ICC Girls’s World Cup match towards Bangladesh on the Dr DY Patil Sports activities Academy in Navi Mumbai on October 20, 2025. — AFP
Sri Lanka snatched victory from the jaws of defeat to file their first win of the Girls’s Cricket World Cup, edging out Bangladesh by seven runs in a nerve jangling end in Navi Mumbai on Monday.
With Bangladesh cruising and solely 9 wanted off the ultimate over with 5 wickets in hand, having mustered simply three runs off the penultimate over, skipper Chamari Athapaththu took the ball herself and turned the sport on its head.
4 wickets tumbled in 4 balls as Bangladesh collapsed, shedding 5 wickets for simply two runs.
Athapaththu, calm amid the storm, completed with career-best figures of 4-42.
The drama started with Rabeya Khan trapped leg-before off the primary ball, adopted by a run-out subsequent supply.
Then, Bangladesh’s hopes sank when their captain Nigar Sultana danced down the monitor solely to search out long-off lurking.
When Marufa Akter was adjudged lbw subsequent ball, Athapaththu had conjured the unthinkable, defending 9 with a single run conceded within the over.
“We handled the pressure well. We knew that if we took the game deep, teams could crumble,” Athapaththu mentioned. “It wasn’t perfect, batting collapses and dropped catches hurt us, but luck smiled at us today.”
For as soon as, fortune favoured Sri Lanka, whose marketing campaign had been marred by rain, missed possibilities and misfiring batters.
Hasini Perera, who struck her maiden ODI half-century, made 85 off 99 balls, peppered with 13 fours and a six.
She was the spine of Sri Lanka’s 202 all out as she reached the milestone of 1,000 runs in ODIs.
A 74-run partnership with Nilakshika de Silva gave Sri Lanka a strong launch pad, earlier than one other collapse noticed six wickets fall for 28 run.
Even so, the Sri Lankans held their nerve within the loss of life overs to seal the win and climb to sixth within the standings.
With 4 factors, they’re degree with New Zealand and India, though will want outcomes to go of their favour to seize the final semi-final spot.
Australia, South Africa and England have already booked their locations within the final 4.
“We kept losing wickets at crucial times,” admitted Bangladesh skipper Sultana, whose combating 77 was in useless as her aspect have been eradicated.
“I tried to take the pressure off with a boundary, but it just didn’t come off.”
