The 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup opened with a close match between Sri Lanka and South Africa. With a total of 129/4, Sri Lanka won the match by three runs. It was a stunning loss for hosts South Africa, and now they will need to make up for it in their next matches.
What a night! What a game!
Sri Lanka have upset the odds to beat the hosts 🙌
📝: https://t.co/sI5h6gf9WD#SAvSL | #T20WorldCup | #TurnItUp pic.twitter.com/fyYqdDsBOo
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) February 10, 2023
At the start of the match, South Africa won the toss and chose to bowl. Their bowlers proved formidable against Sri Lanka, and the team managed to restrict their opponent to 129 for four. Among the bowlers, Kapp and Ismail, combined with inspired fielding from Tazmin Brits were the biggest contributors to the restriction.
However, Sri Lanka was quick to bounce back and had South Africa struggling at 72 for five in the 13th over. Out of the bowlers that turned the tables for Sri Lanka, Inoka Ranaweera was a star bowler, taking 3/18 in her four overs and picking up the crucial wicket of Luus just when it looked like the home side might escape.
Aside from Ranaweera, Kumari was brilliant with her 2/28, and Oshadi Ranasinghe showed a great performance with her 2/20.
While the Sri Lankans were restricted to 129 for four when batting, their batsmen still showed a great performance. After a slow start, Chamari Athapaththu turned things around with back-to-back fours off Nonkululeko Mlaba. She continued to show an aggressive attack until she was dismissed for 68 from 50 deliveries.
In addition to the skipper, seventeen-year-old Vishmi Gunaratne also showed a superb performance with a score of 35 from 34.
Due to her amazing performance in the game, Chamari Athapaththu was named the Player of the Match.
On South Africa’s end, the highest that their batters managed was 28 runs by Sune Luus. Other than Luus, the highest that the team managed was 18 runs by opener Laura Wolvaardt.
With this loss, South Africa will likely need to beat the group’s higher-ranked sides (Australia and New Zealand) if they want to reach the semi-finals. South Africa’s next match will be against New Zealand on February 14. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will be playing against Australia on February 16.
Recently, Sri Lanka won against Bangladesh by 7 wickets and are currently 1st in their group standings. After their loss, South Africa is 4th in the group standings.
The tournament’s next match will be between Ireland and England. It will be team Ireland’s first match in the tournament, while it will be England’s second match. England’s first match was against the West Indies, and they won by 7 wickets.
The 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is the eighth edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup tournament. The World Cup will be going on until February 26, and Australia are the defending champions.
There are 23 matches in total in this year’s tournament, and so far, five out of twenty matches have been played in the group stages. The semi-finals are set for February 23 and 24, while the finals will be on February 26.