ICC Women’s World Cup 2017: Chamari Atapattu scores almost 70 per cent of Sri Lanka’s runs against Australia; slams record 178*

Sri Lanka were 0 for 1 when their batting mainstay Chamari Atapattu entered the crease in match 8 of ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 against a confident Australia.

Sri Lanka were 0 for 1 when their batting mainstay Chamari Atapattu entered the crease in match 8 of ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 against a confident Australia. It seemed that Sri Lanka and Australia continued from where they had left in their respective first match. Australia were taking wickets at regular intervals while Sri Lanka were slumping and showed glimpses of their disappointing previous innings. However, Chamari played a knock of a lifetime that will remain etched in the cricket record books. Her unbeaten score of 143-ball 178 comprised of 22 fours and 6 sixes. Sri Lanka registered 257. Live Cricket Updates: Australia vs Sri Lanka, ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, Match 8 

She also broke a plethora of record.

• Chamari scored almost 70 per cent of runs and taking out the 19 extras, it stands at almost 75 per cent. That is incredible.
• Chamari’s 178* is also the second highest individual score in Women’s World Cup after  Belinda Clark’s unbeaten 229 that she piled up against Denmark at Mumbai in 1997.
• Chamari toppled Charlotte Edwards to claim the No. 3 spot amongst the list of highest run-scorers in Women’s ODIs. Charlotte’s 173* against Ireland in December 1997 is now the fourth highest score in Women’s ODI. India’s Deepti Sharma holds the second position after she smashed 188 in the quadrangular series against Ireland in South Africa.

• Chamari became the first Sri Lanka batswoman to score a World Cup century. It is also the highest score by any Sri Lanka batter in ODIs against Australia.
• This is the highest score registered by a batswoman in England.
• The highest score registered against Australia in women’s ODI is also now held by Chamari. And this is also the second highest score across formats registered against Australia, the top place belongs to Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, who slammed 179 in a Test at The Oval.

A relieved Chamari spoke to ICC about her valuable knock, “Thanks a lot to our national coach Hemantha Devapriya. I need to thank my team-mates for believing in my ability. I played my normal game. We played against the Under-17 and Under-19 boys. That’s why I was able to handle fast bowlers. I tried to take singles in the first 30-35 overs and then looked to hit boundaries. I like to play both pace and spin. Siriwardena is the No. 1 player in the team. She has a lot of experience and was at her best after a return from injury. We will try our best here.”

An emotional embrace as Chamari Athapaththu posts one of the all-time great innings with an unbeaten 178#SLvAUS #WWC17 pic.twitter.com/kELqfi4k71

— ICC (@ICC) June 29, 2017

Apart from these records, Sri Lanka had their concerns. Wickets kept tumbling and Chamari had to take over the role of a warrior as 7 of their batters were dismissed for single digits. Chamari, however, got decent support from comeback batswoman Shashikala Siriwardene who was the second highest scorer for Sri Lanka at 36-ball 24. Australia bowlers, on the other hand, were erratic especially in the death.

Ellyse Perry although ended with 2 wickets, was bowling too short and threw bouncers. Kristen Beams remains the pick of bowlers ending with figures of 2 for 49 along with part-timer Nicole Bolton who scalped 2 wickets as well.

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