Bangladesh’s Shorna Akter celebrates the dismissal of Hasini Perera during the ICC Women’s World Cup match Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on October 20, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini
An inspiring spell from Shorna Akter (3/27) helped Bangladesh bowl out Sri Lanka for a modest 202 after Hasini Perera struck a career-best 85 in their must-win Women’s World Cup match in Navi Mumbai on Monday (October 20, 2025).
Perera (85 off 99 balls, 13x4s, 1x6s) was the fulcrum of Sri Lanka’s innings with her maiden fifty, forging two vital stands with Chamari Athapaththu (46) and Nilakshika Silva (37) on the way, but Shorna took away the bragging rights with a fine spell of 10-4-27-3.
Perera’s 85, now her highest ODI score, also featured two dropped catches when she was put down on 55 and 63.
The Sri Lankan No. 3, Perera had herself to blame for a tired-looking shot late in the innings which not only denied her a deserving century but gave Bangladesh an unexpected opening, which they fully capitalised on.
Sri Lanka appeared to be on course for a daunting first-innings total but a flurry of wickets, which began with Silva being dismissed by Shorna, ending a 74-run fifth wicket stand with Perera which threatened to take the game away for Bangladesh.
Shorna was the architect of Sri Lanka’s slide as after getting Silva caught at short third in the 32nd over, she had Anushka Sanjeewani back in shade for a easy return grab.
And then, in a poor execution of the reverse sweep, the 18-year-old right-arm spinner Shorna’s loopy delivery hit Perera on her backfoot in front of the leg stump.
Perera, who displayed a rich array of strokes especially along the ground, paid a hefty price for attempting to reverse sweep from a vertical position and not reaching out to play the ball conventionally, and her challenge against on-field call of out was futile.
From a comfortable 174 for four in the 32nd over and looking set for a big finish, Sri Lanka folded meekly for 202 all-out in 48.4 overs.
Earlier, Athapaththu made a strokeful 46 which included two sixes and six fours and even as she looked primed for a big knock, it wasn’t meant to be.
Athapaththu began with a four through covers but a lofted hit for a six over cover off Marufa Akter (1/36) in the fifth over was the highlight of her innings.
The Sri Lankan skipper was more belligerent of the two in her 72-run stand for the second wicket with Perera after her side was rocked by Marufa on the first ball of the match, who pinned Vishmi Gunaratne (0) in front of the wickets.
Athapaththu, meanwhile, created history when she became the first Sri Lankan woman to cross the landmark of 4,000 ODI runs.
Published – October 20, 2025 07:05 pm IST
Leave a Reply