Sri Lanka’s semi-final hopes in the Women’s T20 World Cup went up in smoke on Sunday as they suffered a disappointing eight-wicket defeat to West Indies in Bristol. Expectations had soared following their stunning upset win over defending champions New Zealand earlier in the week, but it was back to square one as the batting once again let the side down.

‎Asked to bat first on a green-tinged surface, Sri Lanka were bundled out inside 20 overs for a meagre 98. The spinners had their moments during the chase and threatened briefly, but there simply were not enough runs on the board to truly test the West Indian girls.

‎The writing was on the wall early when Sri Lanka lost three wickets inside the first two overs with only nine runs on the board. Several batters attempted to rebuild the innings, but the damage had already been done and the early collapse proved too costly to recover from.

‎Nilakshika Silva, the heroine against New Zealand, once again top scored with 30 off 26 balls. But with the top three batters departing for single digit scores, West Indies seized the initiative and never loosened their grip. Captain Hayley Matthews led from the front, doing most of the damage with three wickets.

‎There was still a glimmer of hope as Sri Lanka’s spinners created opportunities and managed to induce a few nervous moments, but fielding once again proved to be a major disappointment. To make matters worse, Sri Lanka conceded 23 extras, including 13 wides, gifts that proved far too generous at this level.

‎There was a brief flutter during the chase, but veteran Stafanie Taylor, one of the most experienced players in the women’s game, ensured West Indies did not squander a golden opportunity. She finished unbeaten on 27 off 25 deliveries with a four and a six as West Indies moved to the brink of the semi-finals with three wins from three games.

‎Sri Lanka will remain in Bristol for Tuesday’s clash against Ireland before wrapping up their group campaign against Scotland at Old Trafford next week. In hindsight, they will regard this tournament as an opportunity missed.

‎After all, they had beaten West Indies in the Caribbean earlier this year in both white-ball formats. They had also undergone a two-week residential camp in Kandy before flying to England, while four days of preparation in Bristol itself had left them well prepared for this crucial contest.

‎But all that planning counted for little as a sloppy batting display brought their semi-final dreams crashing down. Batting has been a recurring concern throughout the campaign. Even in the memorable victory over New Zealand, it was the lower middle order that rescued the side from trouble. Far too often, Sri Lanka have been forced to rely on the tail wagging, and in a World Cup campaign, that is a dangerous habit. In the end, it caught up with them and left them staring at what might have been.

Rex Clementine in Bristol

West Indies spinners set up a third straight victory as they strangled Sri Lanka’s batters before Stefanie Taylor steadied a nervy chase to see them home by five wickets in Bristol. The result brings the West Indies joint-top of Group 2 with England – only trailing on net run rate – while Sri Lanka’s hopes of progression took a bashing.

Hayley Matthews was central to West Indies’ effort, arguably setting up the win inside the opening powerplay. Having put Sri Lanka into bat, the West Indies reduced them to 24 for 4 inside the powerplay, a position from which Sri Lanka never truly recovered. Mathews picked up innings best figures of 3 for 15.

Then with the bat, Matthews did her part in a 28-run opening stand with Deandra Dottin, and while Sri Lanka plugged away with wickets through the middle overs, a combination of poor catching, excess extras and Taylor’s stewardship ensured West Indies’ chase was never truly under threat.

Even on a surface where batting isn’t the easiest, any opportunities need to be grabbed when defending a sub-par total – which is precisely what Sri Lanka had managed having been bowled out for 98.

Sri Lanka however struggled to capitalise on the opportunities afforded to them, while simultaneously gifting too many free runs. Twenty-three extras were given away across the innings, with 13 of those coming in wides.

Moreover Sri Lanka dropped three catches across the innings – two of them coming shortly after the fall of a wicket; momentum is everything in a low-scoring game, and Sri Lanka were guilty of giving it up too easily. There were also a handful of close run-out chances that went begging.

It meant that West Indies, who had looked uneasy across their chase, were not punished for their mistakes – which in itself was a result of mistakes induced by the pressure created by the Sri Lankan bowlers and fielders outside of their costly errors.

Having someone with the experience of Taylor in the middle order would be a boon for most any side, and she showed her value once again on Sunday. After a solid opening stand, West Indies had slipped from 2 for 36 to 5 for 70. Another couple of wickets and those remaining 29 runs might have felt closer to 50.

However Taylor offered just the calmness required in such a situation, content to deftly rotate the strike and ensure there were no further hiccups. Her six off a free hit was the only six of the game, but highlighted her ability to capitalise on the situation at hand. Fittingly she struck the winning runs – tellingly, dropped at midwicket.

Sri Lanka average barely over 6 an over against spin since the end of the last T20 World Cup, and West Indies were well-suited to exploit that potential weakness with a team stacked with spin options.

First on that list was skipper Matthews, who opened the bowling and struck three times in a three-over spell inside the powerplay. On a surface that was tacky, she cleverly didn’t attempt to do too much, simply keeping her lines and lengths tidy.

In a period that crippled the Lankan innings before it had even truly begun, Vishmi Gunaratne offered up a leading edge – one spectacularly plucked out of the sky by Matthews – before Chamari Athapaththu went far too early on a pull as she saw her left bail dislodged. Harshitha Samarawickrama meanwhile was done in by some extra bounce, which meant she struggled to keep down a cut straight to point.

When Chinelle Henry had Imesha Dulani caught at mid-on, Sri Lanka had lost their fourth wicket inside the powerplay with just 24 runs on the board.

Ashmini Munisar – drafted into XI to add even more spin options – and Karishma Ramharack picked up three wickets between them as well, as Sri Lanka lost seven of their 10 wickets to spin, eventually being bowled out for 98 with two balls to spare.

With the top and middle order offering little by way of impetus, a rescue job for the ages was needed and Nilakshika de Silva set about her task.

Her 30 off 26 came largely came across two stands of 34 and 23 with Kavisha Dilhari and Kawya Kavindi. Those were two of just three double-digit partnerships across the Sri Lankan innings, as Sri Lanka’s innings stuttered into gear.

But once Nilakshika fell, looking to take on the fielder at deep square leg, the innings once more ground to a halt. Sri Lanka managed 60 for 3 in the middle overs, but without Nilakshika the death overs fetched just 15, as West Indies’ spinners solidified their hold on the game.

SCORES:
West Indies women 99 for 5 in 16.1 overs (Hayley Matthews 17, Deandra Dottin 12, Stefanie Taylor 27*, Jannillea Glasgow 10*; Nimasha Meepage 1-18, Kavisha Dilhari 2-22, Chamari Athapaththu 1-13) beat Sri Lanka women 98 in 19.4 overs  (Imesha Dulani 17, Kavisha Dilhari 21, Nilakshika Silva 30, Kavya Kavindi 17; Hayley Matthews 3-15, Chinelle Henry 1-12, Afy Fletcher 1-24, Aaliyah Alleyne 1-15, Ashmini Munisar 1-16, Karishma Ramharack 2-15) by five wickets

[Cricinfo]

In what may have potentially been his last innings as an uncapped player, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed the fastest List A half-century, off 11 balls, in an innings that eventually ended as an audacious 29-ball 94. That helped India A beat Sri Lanka A  by 66 runs in the tri-series final in Dambulla on Sunday.

Sooryavanshi came into the final on the back of four starts that yielded 117 runs. But the focal point of his tour had been his scrap with the Sri Lanka A players at the end of a tense group fixture four days ago. Amid talks of a reprimand and a fine, Sooryavanshi returned to let his bat do all the talking this time.

His turbocharge laid the foundation of an India A innings that stuttered at different times to eventually post 377 for 9, when 400-plus looked well on the cards. That they finished with what they did was largely down to Anukul Roy, who, like Sooryavanshi, also comes from the town of Samastipur.

Roy smashed 39 off just 15 balls, courtesy four sixes, to give the India A innings a late lift after they had slumped to 334 for 8, and were in danger of being bowled out with a few overs to spare. As it turned out, that wasn’t Roy’s only contribution. He also picked up two vital wickets with his left-arm spin, including that of the set Vijaykanth Viyaskanth to break a 77-run seventh-wicket partnership that kept Sri Lanka A’s hopes alive.

However, the wicket of Wanuja Sahan for a 69-ball 62, the highest contribution of Sri Lanka A’s innings, proved to be the clincher, with Sri Lanka A eventually being bowled out for 311 in the 48th over. Roy aside, legspin-bowling allrounder Vipraj Nigam and fast bowler Yash Thakur picked up three wickets each to play their parts in a fine win.

The performance that would be long remembered, though, was Sooryavanshi’s. Before raising his half-century off just 11 deliveries, each of his first five balls was sent to the boundary. Sooryavanshi kept going hard, and had the fastest List A century in sights until he fell to Sahan Arachchige, the offspinner and Sri Lanka A captain, in the ninth over. By then, India A had raced to 132 in just 8.5 overs.

Sooryavanshi smashed an incredible ten fours and eight sixes in his innings, before falling while attempting to hit a ninth six, out caught at mid-off after failing to get the elevation. It was the second time in two games that he was dismissed by Arachchige. In the Super Over fixture against Sri Lanka A, Sooryavanshi had sliced a tossed-up delivery to point as he lost shape. On Sunday, he backed away to clear the infield, buy only managed to find Viyaskanth at mid-off.

Sooryavanshi’s hitting, especially over extra cover on the up – it was reminiscent of the shot he hit off the very first delivery he faced in the IPL last year – was mighty impressive. As was his ability to play on the minds of the bowlers by getting inside the line of short deliveries to pull or help them over the leg-side boundary. The one shot that exhibited Sooryavanshi’s range, and presence of mind, was the ramp over the wicketkeeper off a delivery from Kugathas Mathulan, whose lengths he had struggled to get underneath in a gun Super Over the last time they met.

Here, having seemingly been beaten for pace, Sooryavanshi still managed to lay a neat little deflection. although he had arched back, and was nearly squatting in an effort to initially bail out of the stroke. One ball prior to that, Sooryavanshi had a small crowd guffawing at his ability to scythe a wide yorker over backward point for six.

While Sooryavanshi was at the crease, India scored 35% of their eventual score of 377. After his dismissal, the rest managed just 245 off 41.1 overs, when it seemed like India A would sail past the 400-run mark. Through the middle overs, Tilak Varma and Ruturaj Gaikwad put together an 84-run partnership for the third wicket to consolidate the innings.

Tilak scored 67 but ended up consuming 90 balls. After his dismissal, India A lost three quick wickets and were in danger of being bowled out for under 350. However, Roy’s late fireworks and an entertaining cameo of 27 from Nigam, who had struck his maiden List A fifty in the previous game against the hosts, gave India A a much higher total to defend.

Sri Lanka A’s chase needed one of their top three batters to bat big. Instead, they were all removed by Yash Thakur. Niroshan Dickwella was bowled attempting to back away to flay a length ball over cover, Avishka Fernando was out nicking to slip, and Nuwanidu Fernando flicked a leg-stump half volley to the lone fielder at deep-backward square leg.

Thakur aside, India A debutant Ashok Sharma was mighty impressive with his speeds, even though he got taken apart for runs in his first spell. While speed guns were absent, Ashok repeatedly hustled batters with his pace and late movement. He also dismissed Sadeera Samarawickrama, one of Sri Lanka A’s most accomplished batters, for a 44-ball 52 just when he was beginning to shift gears. From there on, Sri Lanka A kept losing wickets until a late flourish from Sahan kept them alive, only for those hopes to be dashed by India A’s spinners.

SCORES:
India A 377 for 9 in 50 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 94, Rutraj Gaikwad 40, Tilak Varma 67, Anukul Roy 39; Kugathas Mathulan 2-82, Ravindu Fernando 2-72, Wanuja Sahan 2-39) beat Sri Lanka A 311 (Wanuja Sahan 62, Sadeera Samarawickrama 52, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 39; Yash Thakur 3-45, Vipraj Nigam 3-60,Anukul Roy 2-42) by 66 runs

[Cricinfo]