THE opening match of the 2023 Women’s World Cup proved no one can assume anything in the tournament, as Sri Lanka defeated host country South Africa by three runs in a nail-biter.

After being sent in, the Sri Lankans did not get off to the strongest start as they lost their first wicket with only 28 runs on the board. That turned around quickly as Chamari Athapaththu and Vishmi Gunaratne got to work and steered things back on track with an 86run partnership.-

Things wobbled towards the end for the Sri Lankans after Gunaratne was dismissed, but that 86-run partnership ensured the Sri Lankans would at least be competitive. They ultimately finished on 4/129 from their 20 overs, with captain Athapaththu the star with 68.

Meanwhile for the South Africans Nadine de Klerk, Shabnim Ismail and Marizanne Kapp each picked up a wicket, while Tazmin Brits ran out Gunaratne for the other wicket.

The South African innings with the bat got off to a faster start than the Sri Lankan one had, but both teams managed to get roughly the same amount of runs on the board before they lost their first wicket.

Then the wickets just kept falling for South Africa. They could not get solid partnerships of more than about 20 runs or that lasted more than three or four overs as the Sri Lankans really kept the pressure up.

However they got closer and closer to the Sri Lankan total but just when they thought the total was within reach, they ran out of balls in the innings, falling agonisingly short.

Things would have been very different though if the Sri Lankans had bowled straight. In fact the extras tally of 12 outscored all bar three batters, and was level with a fourth. Sune Luus topped the run tally with 28.

Meanwhile for the Sri Lankans Inoka Ranaweera was the star with the ball with three wickets, while both Sugandika Kumari and Oshadi Ranasinghe picked up two wickets and a run out each.

Day 2 Action

3pm local (midnight AEDT) – West Indies vs England

7pm local (4am AEDT) – Australia vs New Zealand