The second semi-final of the Women’s Asia Cup 2026 just ended between the Sri Lanka Women’s National Cricket Team and the Pakistan Women’s National Cricket Team. After that, skipper Chamari Athapaththu opened up about the performance of his side in the match against Fatima Sana’s side. Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan by 4 wickets as they qualified for the final of the tournament.
Speaking after the win, Chamari Athapaththu credited the batters Harshitha Samarawickrama and Kavisha Dilhari and was happy with the team's overall performance. Chamari Athapaththu also spoke about how the game was a good one, with both teams playing a good brand of cricket as the reigning champions qualified for the final to defend the trophy against India. It is a replay of the previous edition of the tournament.
Fatima Sana's stood tall for Pakistan
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu won the toss and opted to field first. They made two changes Chethana Vimukthi and Vishmi Gunaratne were left out of the squad, with Mithali Ayodhya and Hasini Perera coming back into the side. Pakistan played the same team from their last win over Hong Kong, in which they won by 72 runs.
After being asked to bat first, Pakistan did not have the best of starts as they lost opener Muneeba Ali early on for two runs. Then Shawaal Zulfiqar played a decent knock of 24 runs, and Gul Feroza scored 21 runs; later on, Fatima Sana played a captain’s knock of 47 runs off 36 deliveries, smashing four boundaries and two sixes as she remained unbeaten.
Sri Lanka win a thriller to qualify for final
Pakistan, despite having a small collapse, stitched two small partnerships between themselves, with Feroza and Fatima Sana stitching 40 runs between them, and then Sana and Tuba Hassan stitching 38 runs. They finished with a score of 130/5 in their 20 overs. Chamari Athapaththu and Chamudi Praboda picked two wickets each, and one wicket from Sugandika Kumari.
While chasing, Sri Lanka lost their captain and key batter, Chamari Athapaththu, early on in the innings. Sanjana Kavindi went back on the very next ball as Fatima Sana struck for the side inside two deliveries of her first over. They lost four wickets for 33 runs, as Imesha Dulani scored 24 runs among the first four batters, and the rest were back for single-digit scores.
Then Harshitha Samarawickrama and Kavisha Dilhari slowly stitched a beautiful partnership between them and kept the runs flowing at a good run rate. But the partnership of 67 off 59 deliveries for the fifth wicket was broken by Fatima, as Harshitha was dismissed for 36 runs off 29 deliveries.
But Kavisha kept her charge in the match, though she was unlucky after she was given out, despite the ball being clearly an inside edge. She was back for 33 runs as Sana picked two wickets in the same over. She picked 4 wickets and kept Pakistan in the game, but Chamari Athapaththu’s side prevailed in the end as they won the game with 8 balls to spare.
"We can beat any team": Chamari Athapaththu warns India after semi-final win over Pakistan
Athapaththu, after the match, was happy with the team’s performance, and she credited Harshitha and Kavisha for their excellent partnership as they absorbed the early pressure. She also believes that they are a good team, and if they execute their plans well, they can beat any team.
She said (as quoted by Crex), "[Thoughts after the win?] Actually, as a bowling unit, we done really good. We dropped a couple of catches but we done really good. The way the batters batted, it was amazing to see. To see the young batters batting, it was great. The way Kavisha and Harshitha batted, it was great. They absorbed the pressure. Under pressure, that was a match-winning partnership."
"[Happy with how the youngsters are playing?] Definitely. We have good match-winners. Harshitha, Vishmi, Kavisha and Imesha. Most of the players are playing well. We have good players. If we can execute our plans in the final, I think we can beat any team."
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