Australia began their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign with a dominant win over Sri Lanka on October 5, 2024. This match was played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium In Sharjah.
Chamari Athapaththu, Sri Lanka captain won the toss and chose to bat first. But their batters couldn’t get used to the surface as Australian bowlers made them dance to their tunes.
Sri Lanka was restricted to just 93 for 7 in 20 overs. Nilakshikha Silva top-scored with 29 and Harshitha Samarawickrama made 23 runs. Megan Schutt picked three wickets and Sophie Molineux took 2 wickets.
Australia chased down the 94-run target thanks to Beth Mooney’s 43* with 6 wickets in hand in the 15th over.
During the Sri Lanka innings, there was a lot of hope from in-form Lankan batter Chamari Athapaththu. However, was trapped in front of the wickets by Ashleigh Gardner on the second ball of the fourth over.
And Chamari’s Australian counterpart, Australia captain Alyssa Healy played a huge role as her sledge from behind the stumps disturbed the rhythm of the batter.
In a video uploaded by the ICC's official Instagram account on Sunday, Healy, an Australian wicketkeeper-batter, can be heard saying, "Play a shot, Chamari," after defending the opening ball of Gardner's second over of the match.
The left-handed batter responded with a smile, but then attempted a sweep shot on the following ball and utterly missed it. She was found to be in front of the wickets and was declared out LBW.
ICC shared the video with the caption “That’s Alyssa Healy’s wicket.”
