Sports
Atapattu stars before Velocity pulls off thrilling win
Women’s T20 Challenge 2020
By Roscoe Thattil
Sri Lankan opening batter Chamari Atapattu starred with the bat for the Supernovas in the opening game of the Women’s T20 Challenge at Sharjah, but it wasn’t enough as the Velocity made a dramatic comeback late in the match to pull off a thrilling win with one ball to spare.
The Supernovas started off tamely after they were asked to bat first and their run rate was well below six runs per over at the half way stage of their innings. But the experienced duo of Atapattu and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur upped the ante in the second half of the innings before Atapattu fell for 44 which included two sixes and two fours. She was also the top scorer in the Supernovas innings.
Kaur held the innings together before she was dismissed for 31 in the 17th over before things went downhill for the Supernovas as they managed just 15 runs in the last 3.2 overs to end up with 126/8 in their allotted 20 overs.
The only other Sri Lankan involved in the tournament, former skipper Shashikala Siriwardene also chipped in with a useful 18 towards the latter part of the innings, while she was also expected to play a larger role with the ball for the Supernovas.
Siriwardene accounted for the big scalp of Indian batter Mithali Raj in the Supernovas defense of 126, as Velocity were staring down the barrel at 65/4 after 13 overs.
But a breathtaking partnership of 51 runs off 35 balls between South African Sune Luus(37*) and Sushma Verma(34) got Velocity back in the match, when Siriwardene was asked to bowl the final over with nine runs to get.
Luus managed to hold her nerve and struck two boundaries in the final over to take Velocity home by 5 wickets with one ball to spare.
Brief Scores:
Supernovas –
126/8 (20) Chamath Atapattu 44, Harmanpreet Kaur 31, Shashikala Siriwardene 18, Ekta Bisht 3/22
Velocity –
129/5 (19.5) Sune Luus 37*, Sushma Verma 34, Ayabonga Khaka 2/27
Charith Asalanka (Captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Pavan Rathnayake, Dhananjaya de Silva, Janith Liyanage, Kamindu Mendis, Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jeffrey Vandersay, Maheesh Theekshana, Milan Rathnayake, Asitha Fernando, Pramod Madushan, Eshan Malinga.
On Tuesday, a day before the ICC is expected to take a final call on Bangladesh’s participation at the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup, the PCB wrote to the governing body stating that it supports the BCB’s stance on not wanting to play in India at a time of political turmoil in the neighbourhood. ESPNcricinfo has learned that that PCB also copied the members of the ICC Board in it.
It is understood that the ICC has called a Board meeting on Wednesday to address the matter of the BCB asking for Bangladesh’s matches to be shifted to Sri Lanka because of security concerns in India. It could not be ascertained if the PCB’s email led to the Board meeting being called.
The timing of the PCB email could raise eyebrows, but it is understood that it will not impact the ICC’s stance so far, of not changing the World Cup schedule and allowing Bangladesh to play in Sri Lanka, co-hosts of the tournament with India. The ICC has been firm on this and has conveyed the same to the BCB during its interactions last week.
The BCB, with the Bangladesh government’s support, has refused to travel to India for the team’s group-stage games.
The ICC and the BCB have met several times to discuss the issue, most recently in Dhaka last weekend. But neither side has shifted their stances – the ICC insisting matches must go ahead as planned and the BCB that it cannot send its team to India. January 21 – Wednesday – had been set as a deadline for a decision, less than three weeks before the start of the tournament.
The PCB’s late involvement in the matter comes on the back of a week of speculation around their possible ways out of the impasse. There were unverified reports that the PCB had offered to stage Bangladesh’s games in Pakistan and, more dramatically, that the PCB was reviewing Pakistan’s participation in the World Cup, contingent on what happens with Bangladesh.
The PCB has not commented publicly on the matter, or responded to ESPNcricinfo’s queries.
The stand-off began when the BCCI instructed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to remove Mustafizur Rahman from their squad for IPL 2026. The reasons for that have never been fully explained, though a worsening of political ties between Bangladesh and India has been cited. That prompted the Bangladesh government to formally state that the Bangladesh team would not play its matches in India.
The situation has spiralled since then, even leading to a player boycott in Bangladesh, which affected the ongoing BPL, after a senior BCB official spoke disparagingly of the country’s premier players when asked about the financial implications for the BCB if Bangladesh ended up staying away from the T20 World Cup altogether
(Cricinfo)
Rain in Bulawayo allowed just ten overs of action between Bangladesh and New Zealand .
The match began an hour later than scheduled, and as a 47-over contest after Bangladesh opted to bowl. Iqbal Hossain Emon cleaned Hugo Bogue up for 8 in the second over, but just as Aryan Mann and Tom Jones steadied New Zealand, rain returned, only for no play to be possible after that.
It was New Zealand’s second washed-out game in a row, and they will hope to beat India in their final group game so that they don’t have to depend on the result of the Bangladesh-USA match to progress to the Super Sixes.
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