Athapaththu Highlights Young Prospects for Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup Campaign
Sri Lankan captain, Chamari Athapaththu, has singled out young talents Kavisha Dilhari and Vishmi Gunaratne as potential game-changers for Sri Lanka in the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. This comes after the team secured their place in the main event following a nail-biting victory over UAE in the semi-final.
Sri Lanka remained undefeated throughout their group games, culminating in a closely contested semi-final against the UAE. The team’s journey was marked by the impressive performance of their emerging players.
Sri Lanka secured their spot at the Women’s #T20WorldCup with a hard-earned victory over UAE. https://t.co/JFf4U1HzYQ
Despite Athapaththu not making significant runs, Sri Lanka advanced to the final unbeaten. Among the young talents showcased were Kavisha and Dilhari, who received special commendation from the captain.
Athapaththu is confident that these two players will play pivotal roles for Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup, set to take place later this year in Bangladesh.
“I believe we have two key players for the T20 World Cup – Vishmi Gunaratne and Kavisha Dilhari. Kavisha is a promising all-rounder for Sri Lanka and a young cricketer. U19 captain Vishmi Gunaratne has also shown excellent batting form,” said Athapaththu.
“I am confident that these two players will be game-changers for our team,” she added.
Dynamic all-rounder Dilhari shone in their group match against eventual finalists Scotland, picking a career-best 4/13 and three catches to bowl out the European side for a mere 94. Already a capable middle-order batter, she has had a successful T20I career with the ball for Sri Lanka in crucial games, with 38 T20I wickets at an average of 23.1. In the Qualifier, she took seven wickets at an average under 10.
Gunaratne, Sri Lanka’s skipper in the 2023 ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, was another standout performer. Until the semi-final stage, she was their leading run-scorer with 180 runs. During the group stages, she scored a career-best 73* from 64 balls against Uganda.
The rise of these new stars is a positive sign for Sri Lanka, who have often relied heavily on the exceptional Athapaththu.
With her eyes set on a maiden semi-final spot in the T20 World Cup, Athapaththu expressed confidence in Sri Lanka’s spectacular run. “I want to see my team in the semi-finals, but we take it one game at a time,” the captain said, emphasizing the importance of giving their best on the field. “Every game is crucial for us. We aim to play our best cricket and keep it simple.”