Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapathu becomes the first batter to hit a hundred in Women’s Asia Cup history during the match against Malaysia on July 22, 2024.
Chamari Athapaththu’s Century Helps Sri Lanka to post 184 runs against Malaysia
During the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 match against Malaysia played at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Chamari Athapaththu made history and achieved the feat in 63 balls.
The Southpaw smashed an unbeaten 119* runs in 69 deliveries with the help of 14 fours and seven sixes. Batting first, the hosts lost the early wicket of Vishmi Gunaratne and joined a partnership with Harshitha Samarawickrama to stitch 64 runs for the second wicket.
After Harshitha’s dismissal, Chamari forged hands with Anushka to form a 115-run partnership for the third wicket. She got her half-century in 25 balls and laid a strong base for the side.
💥 HISTORY MADE! Chamari Athapaththu’s phenomenal 119* sets a new personal best in T20Is and marks the FIRST-EVER century in Women’s Asia Cup T20s! What a performance! 🔥#WomensAsiaCup2024 #GoLionesses pic.twitter.com/s4QiYxORu4
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) July 22, 2024
In the death overs, Chamari was unstoppable picking a four and two sixes in Ainna Hamizah Hashim’s over. In her last over, Athapaththu smashed a century and smashed a huge six over long-on to make history in the tournament.
With her 119 runs, Sir Lanka posted a total of 184 runs for four wickets in 20 overs, Athapaththu knocked her third century in T20Is and has scored 3153 runs from 136 matches with an average of 24.44.
Athpaththu is currently positioned in the list of leading runscorers in Women’s T20Is after Suszie Bates, Harmanpreet Kaur, Meg Lanning, Smriti Mandhana, Stafanie Taylor, and Sophie Devine.
Sri Lankan bowler played their part by restricting Malaysia women to 40 runs and winning the match by 144 runs difference.
Currently, Athapaththu tops the list of most runs in the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 with 131 runs in two matches. Currently, Sri Lanka tops the Group B points table of the Women’s Asia Cup 2024.
Coming to the tournament, Sri Lanka will play their next match against Thailand on July 24 at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.
