Kuala Lumpur: The Sri Lankans mean business at the ICC Women’s U19 World Cup as they powered to an 81-run win over the West Indies in Kuala Lumpur set up by a historic effort with the bat.
Sri Lanka took down their own record, posting the biggest total of the tournament so far. Coming off scoring 162 to set up a win over hosts Malaysia on Monday, Sri Lanka smashed 166-5 in Kuala Lumpur against a West Indies side desperate to keep their tournament hopes alive.
Those big-swinging efforts were matched by their work in the field, tearing right through the West Indies batting lineup to have them all out for 85 just inside 20 overs.
Helped in part by some missed opportunities by the West Indies in the field, the Sri Lankans clinically made their way to 79-1 at the mid-point of their batting innings, having won the toss and opting to set the score.
Openers Sanjana Kavindi (38 off 36) and Sumudu Nisansala (19 off 22 balls) put on 54 runs in under seven overs for the first wicket to help set things up, highlighted by Sumudu’s huge six over midwicket (watch above).
The clean hitting continued after the 10-over mark as well, led by the valuable contributions of captain Manudi Nanayakkara (37 off 31) and Dahami Sanethma (31 off 25).
Tricky left-armer Selena Ross was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 25-2 from her four overs, while Jahzara Claxton’s dismissal of Hiruni Kumari was also a highlight (watch below).