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SHARJAH: Georgia Plimmer’s anchoring half-century powered New Zealand to a thumping eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the 15th match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 here at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka only managed 115/5 in the allotted 20 overs despite Chamari Athapaththu’s sensible knock up the order.
The Asian champions got off to a briefly flying start to their innings with Athapaththu dominating the Proteas bowlers.
The brisk opening stand ended in the fourth over when Vishmi Gunaratne perished after a scratchy eight-run knock.
Gunaratne’s dismissal pushed Sri Lanka to the backfoot, and Athapathu then put together a cautious partnership with Harshitha Samarawickrama that lasted for 10 overs and only yielded 48 runs.
Sri Lanka then suffered a massive blow to their batting expedition as both Athapththu and Samarawickrama perished in quick succession, leaving their side reeling at 76/3 in 14.2 overs.
Athapaththu remained the top-scorer for Sri Lanka with a 41-ball 35 while Samarawickrama made 18 off 29 balls.
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Sri Lanka soon lost two more wickets as Kavisha Dilhari and Anushka Sanjeewani walked back after modest contributions before an unbeaten 18-run partnership between Nilakshika Silva and Ama Kachana gave a late push to their total.
Leigh Kasperek and Amelia Kerr claimed two wickets each for New Zealand, followed by Eden Carson with one.
In response, New Zealand comfortably chased down the modest target for the loss of just two wickets and 15 balls to spare.
Openers Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer laid a solid foundation for the pursuit with a 49-run partnership, which culminated with the former’s dismissal in the eighth over.
Bates scored 17 off 22 balls, hitting one boundary.
Plimmer then partnered with Amelia Kerr and added 46 runs for the second wicket before falling victim to Athapaththu, briefly after amassing her half-century.
She remained the top-scorer for New Zealand with a well-crafted 53 off 44 deliveries, laced up with four boundaries.
Skipper Sophie Devine then joined Kerr in the middle and made sure there were no further hiccups for New Zealand in the modest pursuit with an unbeaten 23-run partnership.
Kerr smashed three boundaries on her way to a 31-ball 34, while Devine made 13 not out.
For Sri Lanka, Athapaththu and Sachini Nisansala could pick up a wicket apiece.
The eight-wicket victory lifted New Zealand to third in Group A standings of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 with four points in three matches while Sri Lanka concluded their campaign winless.
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