Sri Lanka Women kept their semi-final hopes alive with a nail-biting seven-run win over Bangladesh Women in Match 21 of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 on Monday, October 20. The clash at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai turned into a low-scoring thriller that went down to the final over, leaving fans on the edge of their seats.
Sri Lanka survive late scare to seal narrow win
Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka posted 202/9 in their 50 overs, thanks to a solid knock from Hasini Perera, who anchored the innings with a composed 85 off 99 balls. Captain Chamari Athapaththu gave her side a flying start, scoring a quick 46 off 43 deliveries before being dismissed.
Bangladesh looked on course to chase down the total as Sharmin Akhter and Nigar Sultana both struck fighting half-centuries. However, the Tigers collapsed dramatically in the final two overs, losing five wickets for just four runs to fall short by seven.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑺𝒓𝒊 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒊 𝑨𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒕𝒉𝒖 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆.
Hasini Perera’s career-best knock rescues Sri Lanka
Hasini Perera played a pivotal role in steering her side out of trouble after an early wicket. Coming to the crease in the very first over, she held her ground while others struggled, hitting 13 boundaries and a six in her career-best innings.
“𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘, 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒓𝒂, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉.
Athapaththu’s magical over seals the victory
With Bangladesh needing nine runs off the last over and five wickets in hand, captain Chamari Athapaththu took matters into her own hands. In an incredible display of composure and skill, she picked up three wickets in the over, conceding just one run to finish with figures of 4/42.
Records and milestones
Chamari Athapaththu became the first Sri Lankan woman to score 4,000 ODI runs, achieving the feat during her innings.
Hasini Perera registered her maiden international half-century and her highest score across formats.
What’s next?
The next match in the Women’s World Cup 2025 will see South Africa take on Pakistan at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday, October 21.
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