Women's World Cup 2025: Athapaththu inspires SL to seven-run win over B'desh

Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu 442 produced a stunning fourwicket spell in the death overs to seal a heartstopping sevenrun win over Bangladesh in a match that went down to the final delivery in the 21st match of the ICC Womenrsquos World Cup 2025 at DY Patil Stadium here on MondayWhat looked like Bangladeshrsquos game for the taking was snatched away by Athapaththursquos brilliance as Sri Lanka edged home in dramatic fashionAfter choosing to bat first Sri Lanka endured a nightmare start losing Vishmi Gunaratne on the very first ball of the innings But Hasini Perera and skipper Athapaththu counterattacked with flair peppering the boundaries and rebuilding the innings Athapaththursquos freeflowing 46 kept the scoring rate healthy before legspinner Rabeya Khan turned the game with a crucial breakthrough dismissing the Sri Lankan captain and triggering a brief slumpDespite two quick wickets Hasini Perera found an able partner in Nilakshi de Silva and together they added 74 runs for the fifth wicket steering Sri Lanka to a strong position at 174 for 4However just as they looked set for a big total Shorna Akter bowled one of the spells of the tournament Her impeccable line and length dismantled Sri Lankarsquos middleorder delivering maidens under pressure and collecting 3 for 27 in her 10 overs The collapse was severe mdash from 174 for 4 to 182 for 8 mdash as Hasini Perera departed for a composed 85 Late resistance from the tail ensured Sri Lanka scraped past 200 before being bowled out for 202 in 484 oversChasing 203 Bangladesh faltered early under the pressure of disciplined bowling They slumped to 44 for 3 in 153 overs as the Sri Lankan bowlers applied the choke The game appeared to be slipping before captain Nigar Sultana Joty and Sharmin Akhter staged a brilliant fightbackThe duo added 82 for the fourth wicket steadying the innings and reviving Bangladeshrsquos hopes Sharmin struck a fluent 64 before she was forced to retire hurt due to cramps bringing Shorna Akter to the creaseWith the captain anchoring the pair stitched a rapid 50run stand that brought the equation down to 27 off 30 balls Bangladesh appeared in control but that was when Athapaththu introduced herself into the attack mdash and the game turned on its headShe dismissed Shorna broke the momentum and triggered panic in the Bangladeshi camp Despite Nigar Sultanarsquos 77 fighting knock Sri Lanka held their nerve Sugandika Kumari bowled a miserly threerun penultimate over leaving Bangladesh to score nine off the final six ballsAthapaththu bowled an over from fantasy to save her side claiming four wickets in four balls including the crucial dismissal of Nigar Sultana off the very first delivery That one ball effectively killed the chase and ended Bangladeshrsquos hopes of staying alive in the tournament The leader stepped up when it mattered most giving Sri Lanka another day to fight in the ICC Womenrsquos World Cup 2025 For Bangladesh this heartbreaking loss ends their campaign though they still have one final fixture against hosts India mdash a chance to play for pride and finish on a highBrief scoresSri Lanka 202 all out in 484 overs Hasini Perera 85 Chamari Athapaththu 46 Nilakshika Silva 37 Shorna Akhter 327 Rabeya Khan 216 beat Bangladesh 1959 in 50 overs Nigar Sultana Joty 77 Sharmin Akhter 64 Chamari Athapaththu 442 Sugandika Kumari 228 by 7 runsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever