Sri Lanka rode on a half-century from opener Chamari Atapattu and a disciplined bowling performance to defeat South Africa by 10 runs in a women's World Twenty20 Group A clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Monday.
Choosing to bat first on winning the toss, the Sri Lanka women were restricted to a lowish total of 114/7 in their 20 overs. The South African bowlers put in quite an economical effort overall with Marizanne Kapp (2/17) and Sune Luus (2/20) the most successful among them.
Chamari was the only Lankan who was able to tackle the South African bowling. The right-hander anchored the innings with a superb knock of 52 runs off 49 deliveries which contained five boundaries and a six.
Prasadani Weerakkody (15) and Eshani Lokusuriyage (12 n.o.) were the only other Lankans to reach double figures.
The South African chase was off to a steady start with openers Dane van Niekerk (24 off 31) and Trisha Chetty (26 off 25) putting 50 runs on the board in nine overs.
But Dane's dismissal in the 10th over triggered a batting collapse and the South Africans could only manage 104/7 in 20 overs.
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Left-arm pacer Udeshika Prabodhani (2/13) and left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari (2/24) picked up a couple of wickets each while Chamari (1/12) and Eshani Lokusuriyage (1/16) were also quite economical.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka: 114/7 in 20 overs (Chamari Atapattu 52; Marizanne Kapp 2/17), Sune Luus 2/20) vs South Africa 104/7 in 20 overs (Trisha Chetty 26, Dane van Niekerk 24; Udeshika Prabodhani 2/13, Sugandika Kumari 2/24)