Hambantota, July 28 (IANS) Half-centuries from captain Chamari Athapaththu, Harshitha Samarawickrama and Hasini Perera powered Sri Lanka to a commanding eight-wicket victory over Pakistan in the third and final ODI in Hambantota on Tuesday, sealing the three-match series 2-1 ahead of the T20I leg starting on Tuesday.
Having dismissed Pakistan for 187, Sri Lanka completed the chase with two wickets lost, Samarawickrama finishing on 71 not out and Hasini Perera also finishing on 50, after the third-wicket partnership of 106 runs had gone on without interruption.
Sri Lanka began well before Vishmi Gunaratne, who had scored a century in the second ODI, was out for 12 after having accumulated 46 runs with Athapaththu on the opening wicket. The Sri Lankan captain then formed a 39-run partnership with Samarawickrama off 48 balls and reached her 20th ODI half-century before being dismissed for a fluent 52 off 38 balls.
Since the required run rate had been firmly brought under control, Samarawickrama and Hasini managed to avoid any further problems. Hasini reached her fifty during the penultimate over, and Samarawickrama then scored the winning run through extra cover, finishing the chase in style. As Samarawickrama had scored 173 runs in the series, including a century that won the match in the second ODI, he was awarded Player of the Series, while Athapaththu received the Player of the Match award for her all-round performance.
Previously, Sri Lanka’s bowlers had laid the foundation for a win with a brilliant start. Chethana Vimukthi dealt a heavy blow to Pakistan’s top order in the second over, getting rid of three of the top four batters within five balls. She got rid of Sadaf Shamas and Sidra Amin with deliveries that seamed away and produced edges to the wicketkeeper behind, and then caught Ayesha Zafar lbw on the very first ball, leaving Pakistan at 10 for 3.
Pakistan did manage to recover thanks to a 68-run stand between Gull Feroza and Muneeba Ali. But Athapaththu ended that partnership by catching Feroza lbw for 40, achieved in 35 balls, after she missed a sweep, and thus stopped the visitors’ advance.
Even though Pakistan managed to secure three additional partnerships amounting to at least 30 runs each, none of them went beyond 34 as Sri Lanka’s bowlers kept on bowling at regular intervals. Muneeba Ali reached 34 by hitting a cut to the gully, and Najiha Alvi scored 30 by chipping a leading edge back to Athapaththu.
Captain Fatima Sana defended 41 of the 49 deliveries alone but was the final batter to be dismissed after being run out by Kavisha Dilhari at long-on. Dilhari took three wickets, equaling the figures of Athapaththu and Vimukthi, as Sri Lanka managed to get Pakistan out for 187.
The complete series win was well earned by Sri Lanka, who overcame their loss in the first match by winning the last two ODIs convincingly and thus gained a boost for the forthcoming T20I series.
–IANS
hs/bsk/