Sri Lankan Women’s Team in Remarkable Cricket Win

Priyan in The ISLAND, 25 July 2026, where the title reads thus: “Gunaratne 123, Samarawickrama 100* ace 274 chase for 1-1′

Sri Lanka aced their third highest chase in women’s ODIs in emphatic fashion with centuries from Vishmi Gunarathne and Harshitha Samarawickrema to level the three-match series 1-1. For Pakistan, Sidra Amin’s  unbeaten 100 in the first innings went in vain as Pakistan could take only two wickets while trying to defend their score of 273.

Harshitha Samarawickrama and Vishmi Gunaratne put on a massive partnership[SLC]……… [Cricinfo]

Sri Lanka’s chase was sealed with 19 balls to spare, scripted largely by the second-wicket stand of 205 runs between Gunaratne and Samarawickrama. It was the first 200-plus stand for Sri Lanka for any wicket in women’s ODIs, and hence the highest for any wicket. The twin centuries from Sri Lanka’s top three was another statement that they can seal strong chases without their captain Chamari Athapaththu, who fell for 1 early on. Gunaratne and Samarawickrama struck their second centuries in the format and are the only Sri Lanka batters – apart from Athapaththu – to have reached three figures.

Athapaththu fell when her counterpart Fatima Sana drew an edge for caught behind at the start of the fifth over. Once Samarawickrama joined Gunaratne, the duo kept the run rate ticking largely around five an over. Gunaratne was the quicker one and brought up her half-century off 55 balls, while Samarawickrama took 74 balls to get there. They picked up pace with regular boundaries once the asking rate went beyond six an over after the halfway mark and brought it under five an over before the 40th over by when Gunaratne had scored her 107-ball century.

She was stumped for 123 when Sri Lanka were 52 runs adrift with 64 balls left and No. 4 Kavisha Dilhari scored at over run a ball to keep them on track. When only eight runs were left, Samarawickrama struck a four to bring up her hundred off 119 balls before Dilhari hit the winning boundary.

Pakistan had earlier been asked to bat and were led by Amin’s knock after their openers couldn’t convert their starts. Amin dropped anchor at one end while Ayesha Zafar scored a quick 49 off 45 before she was bowled by Dilhari in the 27th over. Muneeba Ali then joined Amin for a steady but slower stand of 88 from 105 balls that took them past 220. Sana scored a quickfire 25 off 18 and Amin brought up her seventh ODI century in the last over but it wasn’t enough.

Scores:Sri Lanka Women 275 for 2 in 46.5 overs (Vishmi Gunaratne 123, Harshitha Samarawickrama 100*, Kavisha Dilhari 40*; Fatima Sana 1-44) beat Pakistan Women  273 for 5 in 50 overs (Sidra Amin 100*, Ayesha Zafar 49, Muneeba Ali 45; Chethana Vimukthi 1-26) by eight wickets

&&&&&&&