Sri Lanka had a consolation win in the third T20I on Monday against India. The hosts, who have lost the series already, made a couple of changes to their team while India went with the same eleven.
It was Athapaththu’s day right from the start as the Sri Lankan skipper was top-notch when it comes to the bowling changes today. Having lost Shafali Verma early, Smriti Mandhana and Sabbhineni Meghana tried their best to cope with the slowness on the pitch. After their dismissal, Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur had a good partnership in the middle and took the team to 138.
However, it wasn’t enough for the Sri Lankan team as they went on to win by seven wickets. Unlike other matches, Chamari Athapaththu did not wait for poor deliveries but went for big shots right from ball one. Vishmi Gunaratne was dismissed by an excellent catch by Kaur but since then, India’s fielding was poor.
With Athapaththu going for big shots, the other batters made sure to play the anchor role for the skipper. Nilakshi de Silva was the prime contributor with 30 runs to her name. On the other hand, Athapaththu made an unbeaten 48-ball 80 and took the team home.
