Beaten Sri Lanka women return home with hope of bigger things on the horizon. – By TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE. (eLanka Sports Editor).
Sri Lanka’s women cricketers were awakened to the reality that their recent success against top teams in the world could not be sustained in New Zealand.
They were beaten comprehensively in the one-dayers 2-0, lucky it wasn’t worse, when weather intervened in a abandoned game with the Kiwis a reasonablechance to win it.
But they showed reselience and fought back to upset the confident New Zealanders in the T20 series that followed, winning game one and losing the next. Rain then disrupted the decider giving them a consolation 1 -1result to return home with belief that all was not lost.
What really mattered in the end was that Sri Lanka’s improvement in the women’s game appears to be gaining momentum and is far from the one dimensional team of the past.
While the tinkering for greater success is put in place, skipper Chamari Athapaththu can breathe easy with the knowledge that the game is in good hands after her departure.
Sri Lanka’s women’s game has for too long rested squarely on the skippers shoulders, but there has been a noticeable shift in direction recently under the new coaching structure that has unearthed some exciting allround talent.
Rumesh Ratnayake and his team have made a tremendous effect on the upliftment of the team, and all indications suggest a continuation of bigger conquests ahead.
Athapaththu still underlined her value to the team with a fluent half century that tipped the scales in her favour as the Player-of-the-series in the T20s showing there’s still fight in the ageing warrior.
Hopefully she will hang around to steady the ship before she relinquishes the reins. Direction at a coaching level in the aftermath will be essential for Sri Lanka’s progress.
