An unbeaten 81-run partnership off 64 balls between Hansima Karunaratne and Harshitha Samarawickrama helped Sri Lanka to a seven-wicket victory over the Netherlands in their second ICC Women’s T20 World Cup warm-up match played at Derby on Tuesday.
Having chosen to bat, the Netherlands (ICC Ranking: 14) made three consecutive partnerships over 40 with Heather Siegers anchoring the innings. She was dismissed for 48 runs from 32 balls (7 fours) with the Netherlands at 89-2 before Sterre Kalis made 45 from 41 (5 fours). Sri Lanka (ICC Ranking: 6) then hit back taking the final four wickets for 11 runs as the Dutch posted 143-6.
In response, Sri Lanka lost two wickets inside the powerplay to sit at 30-2 before the Netherlands really turned the screw when Hasini Perera departed for 31 from 20 balls (6 fours). But then, Harshitha Samarawickrama (36* off 34 balls, 3 fours), standing in as captain for Chamari Athapaththu, and Hansima Karunaratne (54* off 42 balls, 6 fours) combined for a huge partnership to take the victory in the final over.
Sri Lanka opens the whole tournament against hosts England on 12 June, having won both their warm-up matches against Pakistan and the Netherlands, while the Netherlands will play their first-ever World Cup game when they take on Bangladesh at Edgbaston on 14 June.
Scores:
Netherlands Women 143-6 (20) (Heather Siegers 48, Sterre Kalis 45, Babette de Leede 26, Malki Madara 1/12, Sugandika Kumari 1/26, Kavisha Dilhari 1/13)
Sri Lanka Women 146-3 (19.1) (Hasini Perera 31, Harshitha Samarawickrama 36*, Hansima Karunaratne 54*)