Vishmi Gunaratne, reunited with captain chamari Athapaththu  at the top of the order, helped Sri Lanka lay a solid foundation after they opted to bat. The hosts raced to 31 without loss in the first five overs. Gunaratne and Athapaththu soon brought up their fifth fifty-run partnership in ODIs, the most by an opening pair for Sri Lanka.

Once spin came on, the scoring slowed down. Gunaratne was the first to depart when she became Sandhu’s first victim. Athapaththu and Hasini Perera then added 53 for the second wicket before the Sri Lanka captain was bowled by Sandhu. Pakistan applied the squeeze when Sri Lanka were 109 for 2 in the 24th over. The only notable stand for Sri Lanka thereon was between Nilakshika Silva  and Kavisha Dilhari, who added 42 for the fifth wicket. But Sri Lanka’s final surge never came and they lost 5 for 32 in the last seven overs to be restricted to a below-par total.

Pakistan hardly broke a sweat in their chase. Feroza struck her fourth successive ODI half-century. She was rapid in the first powerplay, and was the aggressor in the 58-run opening partnership with Sadar Shamas. Feroza then added 90 for the second wicket with Amin, who batted steadily. Feroza eventually fell for a breezy 77-ball 78 while Amin scored 57 off 94 before being dismissed, with victory in sight.

The win was Pakistan’s fifth consecutive ODI win, which put them second on the ICC Women’s Championship points table.

Scores:

Pakistan Women 211 for 5 in 43 overs (Gull Feroza 78, Sidra  Amin 57; Kavisha  Dilhari 2-37) beat Sri Lanka Women  210 for 9 in 50 overs (Nilakshika  Silva 46,  Chamari Athapaththu 46; Nashra Sandhu 3-42,  Tasmia Rubab 2-34) by five wickets

(CRICINFO)