ICC Women’s World Cup 2013: Sri Lankan women register historic win over England

Minnows Sri Lanka caused the biggest upset of the ICC Women's World Cup as they defeated defending champions England by one wicket off a last-ball six in a thrilling Group A encounter at the Brabourne Stadium at Mumbai on Friday.

England women succumbed to a shock defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the last ball of their first game in the ICC Women’s World Cup © Getty Images

Mumbai: Feb 1, 2013

Minnows Sri Lanka caused the biggest upset of the ICC Women’s World Cup as they defeated defending champions England by one wicket off a last-ball six in a thrilling Group A encounter at the Brabourne Stadium at Mumbai on Friday.

After drawing level with England off the penultimate ball, Sri Lanka’s Dulani Manodara pulled Georgia Elwiss over mid-wicket for a superb six to complete their first-ever win over their fancied rivals in any form of the game.

Chasing 239 for a win, the Lankans got off to a flying start with a record century partnership between Chamari Atapattu and Yasoda Mendis, but slumped to 157 for 5 before Kaushalya Lokusooriya brought them on the doorsteps of victory with a whirlwind 56 off 41 balls with three sixes and 5 fours.

Kaushalya was run out off the penultimate ball at the non-striker’s end before Dulani slammed Elwiss for a six to complete a shock win over the three-time champions.

The left-right opening combination of Atapattu (62 in 72 balls) and Yasoda (46 in 98 balls) laid the foundation of the Lankan run chase. But after Atapattu’s exit at 103, the underdogs lost a clutch of wickets in a short span — including that of Yasoda.

They looked like slumping to their eighth defeat in nine contests (one no result) against England in ODIs, before Kaushalya played the match-winning innings to knock the wind out of the champions’ sails.

Kaushalya, lucky to be dropped on nine by Jennifer Gunn in the deep, took full advantage of her ‘life’ to hit her repriever for two fours in the 48th over in which the bowler gave away 16 runs.

Needing 13 from the last 12 balls, Kaushalya lost her eighth-wicket partner Deepika Rasangika, with seven balls remaining and her side needed nine off the last over.

The hard-hitting batter pulled Elwiss for a six to bring down the target, was dropped by the bowler in the next ball and then got run out in a dramatic final over before Dulani hit a six off the last ball to complete a famous win.

Brief Scores: England 238 for 8 in 50 overs (Jenny Gunn 52, Arran Brindle 31, Heather Knight 38, Amy Jones 41; Chamani Senevirathne 2 for 35, Shashikala Siriwardena 2 for 62) lost to Sri Lanka 242 for 9 in 50 overs (Chamari Atapattu 62, Ehsani Kaushalya 56; Katherine Brunt 2 for 36) by 1 wicket