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Chamudi Praboda and Dahami Sanethma emerged as the star performers as Sri Lanka pinned down hosts Malaysia by a 139 runs in their ICC Women’s U19 T20 World Cup opener on day two of the tournament.
Defending a challenging total, Sri Lanka were on top from the get-go, removing three wickets in the powerplay starting off with Rashmika Sewwandi, who claimed opener Irdina Beh in the first over to hand her team an early advantage.
It was followed by twin strikes from Praboda, who got the better of Nazatul Hidayah Husna and Nur Izzatul Syafiqa in the second over of the innings.
Just as the hosts were reeling from the early wickets, Manudi Nanayakkara made her mark with the wickets of Nur Aliya and skipper Nur Daniya Syuhada in the same over as half of the Malaysian batting returned back with only 14 runs on the board.
Aseni Thalagune also got into the thick of the action with a stunning direct hit to remove Nuriman Hidayah out of the equation with a run out.
Limansa Thilakaratne then got rid of Suabika Manivannan and Nur Ain in successive overs from her end before Praboda returned to clinch her third, finishing with figures of 3/5. Another run out came as the final blow for the hosts, who were bowled out for 23.
Earlier, Dahami Sanethma anchored the innings with a half-century as Sri Lanka forged a competitive total.
Returning with 55 runs off 52 deliveries, Dahani composed her knock with six boundaries around the scenic Bayeumas Oval in Kuala Lumpur as Sri Lanka closed the innings with 162/6 on the board.
Opener Sanjana Kavindi (30 off 13 balls) and Hiruni Kumari (28 off 21 balls) in the middle order were also key contributors for the Sri Lankans.
Hosts Malaysia did pull the run rate back thanks to wickets in the middle overs.
The pick of the bowlers was Siti Nazwah, who removed Hiruni and Rashkima Sewwandi in the same over to carve an opening for the hosts. But thanks to some late fireworks from Sanethma and Shashini Gimhani propelled Sri Lanka past the 150-run mark.
Malaysia had won the toss and elected to bowl in the nation’s capital, and there were emotional scenes when Marsya claimed the hosts’ opening wicket, a catch off her own bowling to dismiss Kavindi in the fourth over.
After morning play, defending champions India meet the West Indies at the same venue.
–ICC
