Commonwealth Games2022 Qualifier Women’s T20 Tournament
Sri Lanka Women vs. Bangladesh Women at Kinrara Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia yesterday (24)
Brief Scores:
Sri Lanka Women (won toss) 136/6 in 20 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 48 in 28 - 4x6, 6x3, Nilakshi Silva 28 in 25, Anushka Sanjeewani 20 n.o. in 16, Harshitha Madavi 19; Nahida Akter 2/34, Suraiya Azmin 1/12)
Bangladesh Women 114/5 in 20 overs (Murshida Khatun 36 in 36, Fargana Hoque 33, Nigar Sultana 20, Sobhana Mostary 11 n.o.; Chamari Athapaththu 3/17 in 4 overs, Ama Kanchana 1/13)
Result: Sri Lanka Women beat Bangladesh Women by 22 runs
Player of the Series: Chamari Athapaththu (221 runs and four wickets)
Results of Sri Lanka’s previous matches:
* Beat Scotland Women by 109 runs on 18 January
* Beat Kenya Women by nine wickets on 20 January
* Beat Malaysia Women by 93 runs on 22 January
Results of Bangladesh’s previous matches:
* Beat Malaysia Women by eight wickets on 18 January
* Beat Kenya Women by 80 runs on 19 January
* Beat Scotland Women by nine wickets on 23 January
Final results of teams that took part in the tournament:
1. Sri Lanka (four wins out of four)
2. Bangladesh (three wins out of four)
3. Scotland (two wins out of four)
4. Malaysia (one win out of four)
5. Kenya (no wins out of four)
Most runs in the tournament:
Chamari Athapaththu of Sri Lanka - 221 runs (average 55.25)
Most wickets in the tournament:
Nahida Akter of Bangladesh - 10 wickets (average 8.1)
Sri Lanka team Head Coach: Hashan Tillakaratne
Sri Lanka Team Manager: Vinothen John
2022 Commonwealth Games - Cricket
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Birmingham Commonwealth Games cricket pictogram[/caption]
The 2022 22nd Commonwealth Games is scheduled to be held in Birmingham, England between 28 July and 8 August. This is due to be the third time England has hosted the Games, after London in 1934 and Manchester in 2002. Cricket will be staged in the Com Games this year from 29 July to 7 August with the participation of eight countries.
Group ‘A’
Australia, Barbados, India, and Pakistan
Group ‘B’
England, New Zealand, South Africa, and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s schedule:
* Vs. England Women on 30 July (Saturday) (day/night) at 11.30 p.m.
* Vs. New Zealand Women on 2 August (Tuesday) (day/night) at 11.30 p.m.
* Vs. South Africa Women on 4 August (Thursday) at 4.30 p.m.
** All times in Sri Lanka time; all matches will be held at Edgbaston, Birmingham
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22nd Birmingham Commonwealth Games logo[/caption]
Sri Lanka Women’s cricket team recently lost the opportunity to take part in the Women’s 50-over World Cup in New Zealand in March but they yesterday (24) assured themselves of an opportunity to compete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, to be held in Birmingham this July-August.
They beat their Bangladesh counterparts by 22 runs to become the leading country in a five-team Commonwealth Games 2022 Qualifier Tournament, conducted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from
A must-win game
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Sri Lanka in jubilation after getting their Commonwealth Games qualification yesterday (24) at Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur. Photo SLC[/caption]
Incidentally, Bangladesh, who, along with Pakistan and West Indies, had pipped Sri Lanka to the One-Day International (ODI) World Cup 2022 after the global qualifying event in Zimbabwe was called off midway, in the wake of the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
Yesterday Sri Lanka could secure the lone berth for the eight-team Commonwealth Games.
In a must-win T20I in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, Sri Lanka rode an all-round show from Captain Chamari Athapaththu. She first made a 28-ball 48 as an opener to set the tone for a strong total, and then picked up three wickets. This included the key strikes of Murshida Khatun and Nigar Sultana as Bangladesh faltered in their chase of 137.
Unfortunate missing of the World Cup
Sri Lanka are one of the few Full Members that haven’t slotted in bilateral international fixtures for their women’s team amidst the pandemic.
Between the end of the T20 World Cup in Australia in March 2020 and September 2021, they went a full 18 months without any top-flight cricket, which eventually cost them participation in this year’s ICC women’s World Cup in New Zealand, to be held from 4 March to 3 April.
Their inability to improve on their ODI country rankings due to lack of match time led to them being a non-participant at the World Cup.
Cricket at Com Games
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Sri Lanka women’s cricket and its officials with the Commonwealth Games Qualifier Tournament trophy[/caption]
This will only be the second time that cricket will feature in the Commonwealth Games, but it is a debut for the women’s game, as well as the T20 format, after a men’s 50-over competition was part of the schedule in Kuala Lumpur in the 1998 15th Commonwealth Games.
In 1998, Sri Lanka men’s team took part in that ‘List-A’ or unofficial 50-over tournament in Malaysia. The team that time played under Hashan Tillakaratne who incidentally was the Coach of the present Sri Lanka women’s team.
Sri Lanka’s feats in 1998
The 1998 Sri Lanka team consisted Russel Arnold, Upul Chandana, Mahela Jayawardene, Chandika Hathurusingha, Thilan Samaraweera, and Avishka Gunawardene among others.
In that 16-team tournament, Sri Lanka lost to South Africa, led by Shaun Pollock, in the semi-finals by one wicket. South Africa went on to beat Australia, under Steve Waugh, by six wickets in the final to win the gold medal. Sri Lanka lost to New Zealand, led by Stephen Fleming, by 51 runs in the bronze-medal match.