SL v Aus Women World T20 Review: Rampant Australia rip Lankans apart

The Australia eves breathed life into their stuttering World T20 campaign with a resounding win over a hapless Sri Lankan side at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. The wicket was at its diabolical best as the batsmen found it absolutely unplayable. However, the 9-wicket win sees the Aussies move up the points table, leapfrogging the Proteas into the second position, behind their nemesis New Zealand. As for the Sri Lankans, it is, rather disappointingly, an early flight back home.

Lankan skipper Chamari Attapatu won the toss and decided that it’d be best to have a bat first. No one really knows who or what prompted her decision on a difficult batting wicket, it was a massive blessing for Australia skipper Meg Lanning as she tossed the ball to off-spinner Erin Osborne. The wiliness of Osborne paid off in just the second ball of the innings as it induced a poor shot from Yasoda Mendis. Despite the early wicket, skipper Attapatu and Dilani Manodara went about shortening the odds on an Australian win.

Attapatu seemed to be the aggressor of the partnership as she slammed the ball with vigor and ferocity she had perhaps not shown in the duration of the tournament. The duo added 75 runs in 10 overs before Dilani Manodara was cleaned up by the wily Kristen Beams. The wicket prompted an unprecedented collapse that no one had expected, perhaps not even the Aussies. Anushka Sanjeewani’s 13 balls 12 runs took her nowhere. Beams removed her too following a rush of blood. Eshani Lokusuriyage was the only other Lankan player to make it beyond the 10-run mark as the Lankans were reduced to a frugal 123/8 in 20 overs courtesy of some miserly bowling from the Aussie bowling attack.

Kristen Beams and Meghan Schutt were the picks of the bowlers as they picked up 2 wickets apiece. Ironically, both Beams and Schutt concluded with identical figures following the conclusion of the Sri Lankan innings.

With the wicket having eased out marginally, Australia openers Alyssa Healy and Ellyse Villani began to set the ball rolling in quest of the target. The Aussies however, were stopped by Inoka Ranaweera en route to their total as she removed a struggling Alyssa Healy for 12. Meg Lanning, Australia’s charismatic skipper made her way out to the middle to join Villani.

The Aussie skipper made short work of the slow bowlers within the Lankan armory as she dispatched them with clinical aggression. While Lanning took her time to assess the wicket and rotate the strike, Villani was in absolutely no mood to chase the target slowly. She clobbered the likes of Kumari and Prabodhani with relative ease, striking the ball at will. The duo reached their respective half-centuries, with the target well within sight.

In a rather fitting end to the contest, Meg Lanning’s hoick to deep square-leg ensured that it was in fact, an easy win for the Australia women. Elyse Villani was awarded the man of the match award following her exploits with the bat. “I gave myself a little more time, in the sub-continent I needed time to get used to the conditions. Kept it along the carpet too. Played to my strengths. Every game now is like a WC final so can’t afford to slip up anymore,” she said upon receiving her award.

Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka – 123/8 in 20 overs (Attapatu 38; Beams 2/25)

Australia – 125/1 in 17.4 overs (Lanning 56*; Ranaweera 1/27)

Woman of the match: Elyse Villani