Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu admitted her team paid the price for a poor performance after suffering a five-wicket defeat to West Indies in the Women’s T20 World Cup in Bristol. Chasing just 99, the unbeaten West Indies side arrived home with 23 balls to spare, leaving Sri Lanka with two defeats from three matches.The damage was done early as Sri Lanka slumped to 9/3 in the powerplay and never really recovered, eventually being bowled out for 98. Athapaththu found the conditions challenging but said her side failed to adapt and execute their plans with the bat.The goal is a little sticky today, and the ball is also a little sticky, because the tennis ball bounces. So I feel West Indies are bowling according to their plans and according to the conditions. We did not achieve our plans in the game of power. We lost a few wickets early on and struggled throughout the game as a batting unit. So I feel we need to score 140 plus otherwise we cannot defend against this West Indies team. But, unfortunately, we lost a few wickets and struggled a lot in the middle,” she said after the match.Although West Indies easily reached the target, the Sri Lankan bowlers managed to take five wickets and briefly slowed down the chase. Athapaththu was quick to defend her bowling attack, insisting that the lack of runs was the bigger problem.“Definitely our bowlers bowled in a straight line and length, but there were some extras as well, so the thing is that 100 is not enough to defend. So we have to score more, otherwise we can’t blame the bowlers,” she added.
Semi-final hopes hang in the balance
Athapaththu singled out the bowling unit as one of the positives of the match, but stressed that improvements with the bat are urgently needed.“Our bowling department has done a very good job for us but we need to improve our batting before the next game,” Athapaththu stated.Sri Lanka now face a must-win situation, with wins over Ireland and Scotland essential to keep their semi-final hopes alive.
