Sri Lanka kept their slim Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final hopes intact Friday evening with a tight three-wicket victory over Scotland at Old Trafford in Manchester. Chasing a competitive target of 151/6, the Sri Lankans reached 152/7 on the penultimate delivery of the match to secure the win.
The squad entered the Group B clash in a strict must-win scenario. An opening loss to the West Indies severely damaged their net run rate, erasing their margin for error despite a dominant nine-wicket victory over Ireland earlier in the week. Scotland entered the match mathematically eliminated from tournament progression but pushed the chase to the absolute limit.
Captain Chamari Athapaththu ignited the successful chase during the powerplay, scoring 33 runs off 16 balls to set an aggressive pace. Scotland built their total behind an unbeaten 47 off 33 balls from Sarah Bryce and an early 34-run spark from Darcey Carter.
The final over brought intense chaos to the pitch. With Sri Lanka needing three runs off the last three deliveries, Scotland’s lead bowler Rachel Slater collapsed with a suspected knee injury and left the field in tears. Priyanaz Chatterji stepped in to finish the over, and tailender Sugandika Kumari struck the winning boundary, a sequence verified by reporting in Newsday.
The victory marks the first time Sri Lanka has won three matches in a single edition of the tournament. Their progression to the semi-finals now depends entirely on the West Indies losing their final group-stage match against winless Ireland.