Chamari Athapaththu. (Photo Source: Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images)
The New Zealand women’s cricket team is currently in Sri Lanka as they are engaging in a three-match ODI series, that will be followed by a three-match T20I series.
In a rain-curtailed 28-over affair in the first ODI in Galle, New Zealand posted 170/5 after opting to bat. The Sri Lankan openers, Chamari Athapaththu and Vishmi Gunaratne batted brilliantly in the chase, putting up 159 for the first wicket, taking their team to the brink of a comprehensive victory.
When the teenager Gunaratne was dismissed for a solid 74-ball 50, Sri Lanka needed just 13 more runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Harshitha Madavi, who came in at No. 3, joined her captain Athapaththu and completed the formalities, with an over to spare.
Prior to the game, Sri Lankan’s inspirational captain, Chamari Athapaththu was 49 runs shy of becoming the first woman from her nation to get to 3000 WODI runs. She achieved the commendable feat in the 13th over of Sri Lanka’s innings. The 33-year-old went on to register her seventh WODI hundred as she remained unbeaten on 108 off just 83 balls, with the help of 11 fours and five sixes.
The left-hander now has 3059 ODI runs in 93 matches. She has scored her WODI runs at an average of 33.61 and a strike rate of 71.10. Notably, Athapaththu has been in red-hot form in 2023 thus far, scoring 219 runs in three ODIs, at an average of 109.50 and strike rate of 121.66.
Earlier in the day, the White Ferns’ batters got starts but no one could convert it into anything substantial. Melie Kerr was the highest run scorer in the innings with 40 runs off 51 balls. The 32-year-old Sugandika Kumari was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts as she finished with figures of 1/28 in six overs. The second ODI will also be played in Galle on Friday, June 30.