Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu (4-42), who defended nine runs in the final over against Bangladesh to register their maiden win in the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup at DY Patil Stadium on Monday, revealed that she had first asked their most experienced bowler Udeshika Prabodhani to shoulder the responsibility. However, when she saw that left-arm medium pacer Prabodhani was reluctant, the captain took it upon herself to bowl the decisive over, claiming three wickets with her off-spin and effecting one run out to secure a seven-run win and keep SL’s slim semi-final hopes alive.

Athapaththu, 35, who also scored a 43-ball 46 and became the first SL woman to cross 4,000 ODI runs, conceded just one run in the 50th over. She gave credit to left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari (2-38), who conceded just three runs in the 49th over. “We fought hard till the last over. In the 49th over, Sugandika [2-38] bowled really well and built the pressure.”