Pakistan convincingly beat Sri Lanka by 31 runs in a low-scoring encounter at the Women’s T20 World Cup in Sharjah.
Chasing only 117 for victory, Sri Lanka slipped to 35-3 with captain and star batter Chamari Athapaththu gone for just six, and they failed to recover without her experience.
On a sluggish pitch, Nilakshi de Silva’s 22 off 25 and Vishmi Gunaratne’s 20 from 34 balls was Sri Lanka’s only resistance as they crawled to 85-9 from 20 overs, with only three boundaries struck in a dismal batting effort.
It was the second low-scoring encounter to start the tournament after Bangladesh’s opening win over Scotland in the earlier match, with spin dominating both games on slow pitches and in humid conditions.
Athapaththu contributed figures of 3-18 with the ball as Pakistan were bowled out for 116 from the final ball of their innings, with fellow spinner Sugandika Kumari and seamer Udeshika Prabodhani also taking three wickets each.
Sri Lanka dominated early proceedings as Pakistan slumped to 84-8 with five overs remaining, before captain Fatima Sana provided a late boost with a valuable 30 from 20 balls.
Sana then crucially removed Athapaththu in the third over of the chase, leading from the front after her side was dealt the blow of losing strike bowler Diana Baig with a calf injury after delivering just one ball.
Gunaratne held firm as the rest of the top five fell for single figure scores but struggled to move the score along, with just 47 runs on the board from 11 overs.
Pakistan’s spinners then utilised the scoreboard pressure to close in on victory, led by Sadia Iqbal’s 3-17 as spin accounted for seven Sri Lankan wickets and 14 in the match altogether.
Both teams face a big challenge in their second match, with Sri Lanka taking on defending champions Australia on Saturday and Pakistan looking to bounce back against rivals India the following day.