Sometimes a team’s true strength only shows up when everything seems to be falling apart and that’s exactly what happened for Sri Lanka in their semi-final chase.
Captain Chamari Athapaththu is now feeling confident heading into the 2026 Women’s Asia Cup final, after her side, the defending champions, pulled off a four-wicket win over Pakistan to book their spot in the summit clash. For Chamari Athapaththu, what stood out most wasn’t just the win itself but the way her young batting unit responded when the chase looked like it was slipping away. Sri Lanka will now face India in the final on Sunday.
Chasing a target of 131 after Pakistan posted 130, Sri Lanka found themselves in early trouble. Chamari Athapaththu herself, along with Sanjana Kavindi and Hasini Perera, were all dismissed within the first six overs, putting the team under serious pressure right from the start.
That’s when Harshita Samarawickrama and Kavisha Dilhari stepped up. Instead of letting Pakistan seize control of the game, the two batters steadied the innings and built a match-turning partnership of 67 runs, completely shifting the momentum back in Sri Lanka’s favor.
Speaking after the win, Chamari Athapaththu credited this ability to rise to the occasion as one of the team’s core strengths, pointing to her finishers and the overall depth of talent across both the batting and bowling units, and expressed confidence that if the team executes its plans well, they can beat any team in the final.
The captain also spoke positively about her team’s all-around performance. Even though there were a couple of dropped catches in the field, she was happy with how the bowling unit performed and was especially impressed by the batting effort, highlighting how well the younger players are stepping up — something she sees as a great sign for both the team and the country.
The partnership between Harshita Samarawickrama and Kavisha Dilhari proved especially crucial, coming at a moment when Pakistan had genuinely put the defending champions on the back foot. The pair focused on rotating strike, avoiding risky shots and steadily closing the gap toward the target. Chamari Athapaththu specifically praised how the two batters absorbed the pressure and kept finding singles, calling their partnership the turning point of the match.
Harshita Samarawickrama ended up scoring 36 while Kavisha Dilhari made 33, with both dismissed in the 17th over. At that point, Sri Lanka still needed 30 runs from 23 balls, but Nilakshi de Silva and Kaushani Nuthyangana made sure there was no late collapse, guiding their team home comfortably with eight balls to spare.
It seems Indian women cricketers are going to face tough competition in the finals. All the best to the Indian team!
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