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Follow UsI don’t need to throw numbers at you to make you understand how Sri Lanka women’s cricket team are dependent on their skipper Chamari Athapaththu. So much so that if I had written ‘Sri Lankan women’s cricket = Chamati Athapaththu’ at the beginning of this article no one would have even blinked.
However, change in that status quo has been bubbling under the surface ever since the Sri Lankan women triumphed 2-1 in a T20I series against England in 2023. Then they defeated South Africa in South Africa and Bangladesh at home.
Athapaththu was the main character in these wins; however, for probably the first time in her career, others were putting their hands up to their skipper and telling her that she was not alone.
Two of them, Harshitha Samarawickrama and Vishmi Gunaratne have more than 500 runs since the last T20 World Cup. Then there’s the bowling group of Inoshi Priyadharshani, Udeshika Prabodhini etc who have done the same with the ball in hand.
That’s why when they came into the final undefeated after a thrilling victory against Pakistan in the semi-final, it was clear that this Sri Lankan team was ready to take the next step in their journey — a journey that was cruelly erased from the roads during the pandemic and well after that.
But Athapaththu and all these young and experienced Lankan lionesses BELIEVED as they got ready to face the Asian behemoths India, who had won seven out of eight editions of the Women’s Asia Cup since its creation. And isn’t ‘believing’ the biggest difference between being a winner and giving in to your supposed destiny?
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“Don't you tell me what you think that I could be
I'm the one at the sail, I'm the master of my sea, oh-ooh”
The final was here. Dambulla was absolutely dumped with humans in Sri Lankan colours. You could hear a quintessentially Sri Lankan band in the crowd. Oh, and Athapaththu made India bat first — the mighty India, whose lowest powerplay score in a low-scoring tournament was 46!
It might have seemed like a bad decision then. But the humble Lankan bowlers, whose names were probably not even known by the fans in the stadium before this, bowled with immense discipline.
Inoshi Priyadharshani once again proved her meticulous miserliness in the powerplay. Sugandika Kumari, a left-arm offie, did the same despite bowling to Smriti Mandhana, a negative match-up for her.
They didn’t allow Shafali Verma to get under their line and take them over the infield, and they didn’t allow Mandhana much room to free her arms on the off side. If not for the expensive sixth over by Udeshika Prabodhani, India wouldn’t have even reached 44, their lowest powerplay in the tournament.
The first phase of the game was over, and Sri Lanka showed India that they wouldn’t play this game like a minnow side. They were here to fight, and that fight made them throw their bodies on the field and didn’t allow India easy boundaries at any stage of the game.
The result was that a batting line-up comprising in-form and hard-hitting batters from opening to number six (except number three) could only score 165/6, which was below a safe score on the pitch.
However, Sri Lanka had never chased a target this big in their history. They had Athapaththu. But they needed others to rise and ride today. They needed the other batters to BELIEVE. And that’s what they did!
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“Is you a believer?
I get a unicorn out of a zebra
I wear my uniform like a tuxedo
This dragon don't hold his breath, don't need no breather”
When the Lankans came out to bat, the aggression and intent were visible from ball one. The disappointment on Athapaththu’s face when Vishmi Gunaratne got run out early due to her error showed how much it pained her!
If you had known Athapaththu, the batter, you would have guessed that this might just have triggered her to go all gung-ho against the bowlers.
The defending champions bowled awry lines, and Athapaththu and Samarawickrama (who came in at number three) hardly left any bad ball unpunished. Indian bowlers also started coming under pressure from being attacked from both ends of the wicket, and that’s when the crowd also started getting pumped with every single boundary being hit. Dambulla, at that point, was probably the loudest place on the teardrop island, and my colleague Akshay Kumaraswamy experienced it firsthand.
“The crowd was incredible. It was packed to the rafters. Girls running around the stands with the Sri Lankan flag wrapped around them was a common feature of the game," he said when asked to narrate the atmosphere.
"Despite being the only Indian fan in my stand, I never felt alone. I was comfortable cheering for Smriti, and I never really felt alone in it. The support and vibe have ensured that this result will echo in every corner of Sri Lanka.”
Dambulla was rocking, and so was Samarawickrama, who batted the same way even after Athapaththu got out in the 12th over. Kavisha Dilhari (30* off 16) at number four started with her wristy drives and sweeps as if she’s been batting on the track for the entire day. The crowd, at that point, made sure that their voices never dipped. Athapaththu was out, but they still believed because the two youngsters in the middle were playing in a manner that forced them to do so.
After that, the higher-ranked Indian side had absolutely no chance of a comeback as Dilhari kept the big hits coming. It was only fitting that she sailed Sri Lanka with the most dominant shot in cricket - a six!
That’s the power of believing, you see. That’s what happens when youngsters rise from behind the gradually fading (but still strong) shadows of a legend who was the side's identity. That happens when a team rejects its history, poor support, and abject circumstances and rises above all of them. That’s what happens when they become BELIEVERS.
Every single cell of the eleven Sri Lankan lionesses who took the field against India believed, and that’s the only thing that mattered at the end as their hands touched the trophy and they became immortals in Sri Lankan women’s cricket history.
I know that strength, it don't come, don't come without strategy
I know the sweet, it don't come without cavities
I know the passages come with some traffic
I start with from the basement, end up in the attic
And third thing third
Whoever call me out, they simply can't count
Let's get mathematic, I'm up in this, huh
Is you a believer?
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