Siriwardene's four wickets help Sri Lanka finish the tournament on high

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Padmaja Srivatsan
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Shashikala Siriwardene. ©ICC

Sri Lanka bowed out of the T20 World Cup on high as they thrashed Bangladesh by nine wickets at Junction Oval in Melbourne on Monday (March 2).  It was a fitting farewell to Sri Lankan legend Shashikala Siriwardene who finished with four wickets in her last match bringing down curtains to a 17-year-old career. The 34-year-old helped Sri Lanka restrict Bangladesh below the 100-run mark before their batters led by Hasini Perera (39) and Chamari Atapattu (30) finished the job with 27 balls to spare. This emphatic victory was Sri Lanka's biggest in terms of wickets in the T20 World Cups.

Opting to bat Bangladesh first, Bangladesh's start was far from ideal as Siriwardena struck in her first over removingMurshida Khatun for just 3. Achini Kulasooriya then dismissed both Sanjida Islam (13) and Ayasha Rahman (6) in the last over of the power play to leave Bangladesh in tatters at 26 for the loss of three wickets.

Fargana Hoque and Nigar Sultana tried to resurrect Bangladesh's innings as they played brilliant shots notching up the team's fifty in the 12th over. Just as it looked Bangladesh will go beyond the 100-run mark Kavisha Dilhari struck dismissing Hoque to break the 31-run stand.

Thereafter, the Bangladeshi batters got strangled by Siriwardene as she scalped Rumana Ahmed (duck), Ritu Moni (8) and Fahima Khatun (1) triggering a collapse to finish with 4-0-16-4. For Bangladesh Sultana's fighting knock of 39 enabled Bangladesh to finish at 91 for the loss of eight wickets.

Chasing a modest target, Bangladesh fielders dropped thrice in the first two overs  -- Perera and Atapattu being the luckiest persons. The duo played some brilliant shots with occasional boundaries to bring the 50-run partnership in the ninth over. Although Atapattu departed for 30, it was Perera and Anushka Sanjeewani who stitched together for an unbeaten 42 run-stand for the second wicket to take them over the line.

Brief scores: Bangladesh 91/8 in 20 overs (Nigar Sultana 39; Shashikala Siriwardene 4/16, Achini Kulasuriya 2/19) lost to Sri Lanka (Hasini Perera 39*, Chamari Atapattu 30; Nahida Akter 1/13) by nine wickets. PoTM: Shashikala Siriwardene
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