Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu admitted his team paid the price for poor batting after losing by five wickets to West Indies in their Women’s T20 World Cup match in Bristol. Chasing just 99, the unbeaten West Indies reached home with 23 balls to spare, leaving Sri Lanka with two losses in three matches.The damage was done early when Sri Lanka went down to 9/3 in the powerplay and never really recovered, eventually being bowled out for 98. Athapaththu felt things were tough, but said his side failed to adapt and achieve their goals with the bat.“The wicket is a bit sticky today, and the ball is a bit sticky, the tennis ball is hitting. So I feel that West Indies are playing football according to their plans and their situation. We did not achieve our plans in the power play. We lost a couple of wickets early on, and throughout the game we fought like a batting team. So I feel we need to raise 140 plus, otherwise we cannot defend this West Indies team. But unfortunately, we lost a few wickets and struggled a lot in the middle,” he said after the match.Even West Indies got there well as the Sri Lankan bowlers managed to get five wickets and slowed down the chase a bit. Athapaththu was quick to defend his bowling attack, insisting that the lack of runs was the main problem.“Indeed, our bowlers shot on the right line and length, but some extras were also given there, so the thing is, 100 is not enough to defend. So we need to get more runs, otherwise we can’t blame the players,” he added.
Semi-final hopes are hanging by a thread
Athapaththu singled out the bowlers as one of the best in the game but stressed that improvement in batting is urgently needed.“Our bowling department has done very well for us, but we need to improve our batting before the next game,” said Athapaththu.Sri Lanka now face a must win, with wins over Ireland and Scotland essential to keep their semi-final hopes alive.
