Sri Lanka pulled off a miraculous win after Bangladesh choked in a thrilling Women’s World Cup 2025 encounter at the DY Patil Sports Academy on Monday, October 20. Chasing 203, Bangladesh fell seven runs short after losing four wickets off four balls in the final over.
Sri Lanka skipper Athapaththu was the star with the ball as she bowled the final over that saw Bangladesh losing four wickets in four straight balls, including one through a run out.
Nigar Sultana’s half century had led the chase well despite the other half-centurion Sharmim Akhter retiring hurt and coming late but the Bangla batters committed a hara-kiri. From being at 176/3 and needing 27 runs from 30 balls with seven wickets in hand, the Bangladesh side lost their next six wickets for just 19 runs to end on 195/9 in their 50 overs.
With their maiden victory of the tournament, Sri Lanka kept their slim hopes of reaching the semifinals in the World Cup alive. They have four points from six matches with one win and two no-result outings. They need to beat Pakistan in their final group game and hope for a few results to go their way to make a late and unlikely surge into the last four.
Speaking after the match, Sri Lanka skipper Athapaththu knew that a surge in the semifinals would be miraculous in itself. “One more game left, we’ll try our best to win and (it) will be a miracle if we can make the semis,” said Athapaththu after the win.
Speaking on the win, Athapaththu said that the team handled the pressure well. “We handled the pressure till the last over. Knew we had to keep fighting till the end. Did many mistakes as a batting unit, not our best game but we were lucky enough to win,” she said.
She also spoke on the inclement weather in Colombo, that has seen as many as four wash outs. “We played four games in SL but unfortunately two games washed out. Too hard to predict the weather. As a professional team we can’t blame those things,” the skipper said.
Athapaththu also revealed that she had two options for the last over and took a suggestion on what to from Udeshika Prabodhani, who was the other option to bowl the last one.
“After every over I was talking to the team to keep it simple. I feel the senior bowlers bowled really well. After Joty got out I knew the game was going our way. I had two choices – myself or Udeshika. I spoke to her and she asked me to bowl. She said ‘you’re in the mood, you bowl’,” she said.
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