File photo of Lasith Malinga© AFP
Sri Lankan pace legend Lasith Malinga on Thursday congratulated the national senior women’s team for clinching a historic series win in England. Sri Lanka women’s team created history on Wednesday by recording their first-ever series triumph over England in any format. The historic 2-1 series triumph came courtesy of a dominant seven-wicket victory over Heather Knight’s side in the third T20I in Derby. In his tweet, Malinga lauded the character shown by the team led by Chamari Athapaththu.
“Congratulations to SL Women’s Cricket team for the historic series win against England Doing so in their own backyard makes it even more special The character Chamari & her team have shown throughout the past year is promising and it’ll do wonders for the Women’s game in SL,” tweeted Malinga.
Congratulations to SL Women’s Cricket team for the historic series win against England
Doing so in their own backyard makes it even more special
The character Chamari & her team have shown throughout the past year is promising and it’ll do wonders for the Women’s game in SL— Lasith Malinga (@malinga_ninety9) September 7, 2023
Coming to the match, put to bat first, England was bundled out for just 116 runs in 19 overs, with Maia Bouchier (23), Danielle Gibson (21) and wicketkeeper-batter Amy Jones (20) helping England save face.
Seven of England’s wickets fell to spin bowlers, which included SL skipper Chamari Athapaththu, who delivered an all-round masterclass with a 28-ball 44 and a spell of 3/21. Kavisha Dilhari, Udeshika Prabodhani ended with figures of 2/16 each.
This performance raised alarm over England’s inability to play spin as they went down to Sri Lanka in the same fashion in the second T20I.
SL chased down the total without much issues as Athapaththu (44 in 28 balls, five fours and two sixes) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (26 in 28 balls, one four) guided the chase.
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