In East London on Wednesday, Sri Lanka‘s women’s cricket team etched their names in history by securing their maiden series victory over South Africa across any format. This significant milestone was achieved with a four-wicket win over the Proteas in the third and final match of their T20I series. It also marked Sri Lanka’s highest successful run chase ever in the shortest format of the game.
Laura Wolvaardt powers South Africa to a decent total
Sri Lanka Women won the toss and elected to bowl. South Africa Women posted a competitive total of 155/6 in their allotted 20 overs. Captain Laura Wolvaardt was the standout performer for the hosts. She smashed 56 from 47 balls, with the help of 8 boundaries.
Apart from the South African skipper, Nadine de Klerk and Anneke Bosch also made significant contributions. While Bosh scored 27 off 21, De Klerk remained unbeaten on 44 from 25 deliveries, including 4 boundaries and 3 sixes. For the visitors, Sugandika Kumari shined with the ball, taking a brilliant three-wicket haul while conceding 24 runs in her quota of 4 overs.
Chamari Athapaththu takes Sri Lanka home
Chasing 156 for victory, Sri Lanka Women chased down the target with 5 balls to spare, reaching 156/6 in 19.1 overs and registering history. Their captain Chamari Athapaththu, once again starred with the bat, smashing a scintillating helf-century.
Athapaththu smashed 73 runs off 46 balls, laced with 7 boundaries and 5 sixes. She was ably supported by Harshitha Samarawickrama, who contributed a vital 54 runs. Despite some resistance from the South African bowlers, Sri Lanka held their nerve to secure the win. Athapaththu was awarded the Player of the Match for her match-winning innings.
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Here is how Twitter reacted:
Champions! 🏆
Sri Lanka Women’s seal historic T20I series win in South Africa! 🇱🇰 #LionessesRoar
Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama were phenomenal, guiding us to a thrilling victory in the final T20I by 4 wickets! #SheRoars✨
This is a historic first ever… pic.twitter.com/D1qwdLahE4
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) April 3, 2024
History for Sri Lanka 🇱🇰
They claim their first women’s T20I series win over South Africa in East London 👏#SAvSL scorecard 📲 https://t.co/iZM9ponTKR pic.twitter.com/DNpO13AwTg
— ICC (@ICC) April 3, 2024
All 7 knocks of Harshitha where she remained unbeaten with 20+ runs when SL-W won chasing
69* (50) v BAN – Cape Town [2023]
29* (42) v BAN – SSC [2023]
49* (40) v NZ – PSS [2023]
30* (35) v ENG – Chelmsford [2023]
26* (28) v ENG – Derby [2023]
54* (43) v SA – East London [Today] pic.twitter.com/zxPsSVEGYJ— Aadhil Siddhique (@AadhilSiddhique) April 3, 2024
Series wins against New Zealand, England and South Africa in the last 12 months. Wow, this team 🙌🏽 #SAvSL
— Estelle Vasudevan (@Estelle_Vasude1) April 3, 2024
ඉතිහාසයේ ප්රථම වතාවට ශ්රී ලංකා කාන්තා ක්රිකට් කණ්ඩායම දකුණු අප්රිකාවට එරෙහිව තරගාවලි ජයග්රහණයක් වාර්තාකරයි ✌️
Athapaththu, Samarawickrama star in Sri Lanka’s historic series win over South Africa
Sugandika Kumari picked up three wickets with the ball ✌️ Congratulations Girls pic.twitter.com/ggllqyl2CD— Senu_Kavi (@KaviSenu) April 4, 2024
Two winning selfies, one very proud Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 🏏#LKA #SriLanka #SAvSL #BANvSL
Both our Men’s and Women’s teams have emerged victorious in their respective series!
The Men clinch the Tests in Bangladesh, while the Women dominate the T20Is in South Africa. pic.twitter.com/5P7IRtxSRG— Sri Lanka Tweet 🇱🇰 (@SriLankaTweet) April 4, 2024
What Chamari Athapaththu has achieved with this Sri Lanka team full of veterans is marvelous
Same team which missed out on the last ODI World Cup because their board didn’t give them any fixtures
Greatest ever Sri Lanka women’s team for me#SAvSL
— Mohit Shah (@mohit_shah17) April 4, 2024
Sri Lanka claimed their first women’s T20I series win over South Africa in East London .#LKA #SriLanka #SAvSL https://t.co/eXan9f9IY2 pic.twitter.com/gWdLbWgSbB
— KalhanRan (@KalhanRan) April 4, 2024
#SAvSL :
மகளிருக்கான சர்வதேச T20 கிரிக்கெட் மூன்றாவது போட்டியில் இலங்கை மகளிர் அணி 4 விக்கெட்டுக்களால் வெற்றி!#SAvSL #T20Iseries #SriLankaVsSouthAfrica #SriLankaU19 #Thinakaran #SriLanka #LKA #SL pic.twitter.com/XHU4tMhWJv
— Thinakaran News 🇱🇰 (@ThinakaranLK) April 4, 2024
2024-04-03 ❤️
🇱🇰 Men’s 🏏 Team – Test Series won against Bangladesh
🇱🇰 Women’s 🏏 Team – 1st ever WT20i series win against South Africa #sportspavilionlk #SLvBAN #SAvSL pic.twitter.com/e49tfngqNQ
— DANUSHKA ARAVINDA (@DanuskaAravinda) April 4, 2024
So happy for the @OfficialSLC Womens Cricket team. They have beaten 🏴🇳🇿 and 🇿🇦 in a space of months and are on par with the best. I say now bring on the Aussies.. onwards and upwards !!🚀🚀🇱🇰🤘🔥🔥 #lka #SAvSL
— ChamindraH (@ChamindraH) April 4, 2024
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This article was first published at WomenCricket.com, a Cricket Times company.
