Victorious Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu believes her side’s success in the Women’s Asia Cup was well deserved as the island nation turns its attention to this year’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
Sri Lanka claimed their first Women’s Asia Cup title on Sunday, with Athapaththu leading from the front with a hard-fought half-century to help her team chase down India’s total of 165/6 with eight balls remaining.
The victory helps cap off a tremendous 14-month period for Sri Lanka, who have claimed T20I series triumphs over Bangladesh, England and South Africa in recent times as well winning the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament to earn a place at this year’s tournament in October.
That will be the next challenge for Athapaththu and Sri Lanka, but the experienced skipper is excited about what her side can achieve at the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.
“We sacrificed a lot for the last 10-15 years. Finally we won this award, this trophy,” Athapaththu said after she won the Player of the Tournament award at the Asia Cup.
“We’ve played really good cricket the last 12 months. We beat England, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand. We won (T20) World Cup qualifiers, now we won Asia Cup.”
It’s no surprise that Athapaththu has been leading from the front with both bat and ball Sri Lanka’s recent run of form, but the veteran all-rounder is now getting plenty of support from her teammates with the likes of Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari and Udeshika Prabodhani stepping up to show their wares during different stages of the Asia Cup.
Samarawickrama played a vital role in scoring her own half-century alongside Athapaththu against India in the Asia Cup decider, while Dilhari and Prabodhani finished the tournament among the top 10 wicket-takers at the event.
It has Athapaththu buoyant about what the future holds for Sri Lanka and the 34-year-old wants to continue playing for her side for at least another 12 months and be present at next year’s ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in India.
Athapaththu had recently been hinting at retirement from the international game, but the star all-rounder wants to be part of at least two more ICC tournaments.
“Hopefully I’ll still play until the next 50-over World Cup,” Athapaththu added.
--ICC--
