Sri Lanka women recorded an historic first-ever series victory over England in the final match of the series in Derby this evening (September 6), beating the hosts by seven wickets.
England were sent to bat by Chamali Atapastu and were sent off for 114 after failing to fully recover from losing a wicket on the first ball of the innings. A long ball from Inoshi Fernando was sliced straight by Danny Wyatt to mark the opening, but a mistake with Maia Boucher sent Alice Capsey devastatingly off target. Three wickets fell on the power play and the usual losses continued throughout the innings. Atapastu finished the final over by winning his two wickets on successive balls, first catching Kate off guard with his cross before Mahika trapping his Gaur up front with the first ball.
Sri Lanka’s first partnership was quietly pushed forward for holistic results. Atapattu scored two 6s when her partnership with Anushka Sanjeewani crossed 50. She was ejected by Capsey on 44 of 28 pitches. Sanjewani went down in the next round, but Sri Lanka had no doubts about taking the overall win. They finished the score with his 7 wickets and 3 overs remaining. His four wickets for Halshita Samara Wickrama ended the game.
Sri Lanka’s staggering eight-wicket victory in the second leg of the series is their first consecutive victory in any format against England. That match at Chelmsford was her first win in T20I against England. There they beat England with the fewest total bowling shots of 104 against Sri Lanka in T20I. His 114 they threw in bowling tonight was the third worst result.
For Sri Lanka, the series win is a continuation of the momentum the country has built this year. In July they recorded a victory over New Zealand in the ODI series and in May they defeated Bangladesh in both white ball series. Sri Lanka had not won a T20I series since she beat Pakistan 2-1 in 2015, until they faced Bangladesh in the T20I series.
England have not lost the T20I series between the two countries since the 2021/22 Ashes series in Australia. In this form of ICC ranking, Sri Lanka is ranked 2nd in the world and Sri Lanka is her 8th. The series marked the first time since her 2010 that England had lost a bilateral T20I series against non-Australian counterparts.
The two teams will now face each other in a three-game ODI series that begins in Durham on Saturday, September 9th.
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