Sri Lanka Dominates Malaysia to Reach Asian Games Semifinals
Chamari Athapaththu and Kavisha Dilhari turned Korogi Sports Park into their stage, driving Sri Lanka into the Asian Games women’s cricket semifinals with an 86‑run demolition of Malaysia on Friday.
This was ruthless. Eventually.
Athapaththu flips the switch
Sri Lanka chose to bat and, for four overs, looked stuck in first gear. Just 10 runs came, Imesha Dulani departed, and Malaysia’s bowlers controlled both line and nerves.
Then Athapaththu decided she had seen enough.
In the fifth over, she tore into Aisya Eleesa, plundering 23 runs and ripping the contest open. Hasini Perera followed that surge with two boundaries in the next over, and suddenly Sri Lanka had 38 for 1 at the end of the Powerplay, the mood and momentum transformed.
Athapaththu kept pressing. She raced to a fifty from only 28 balls, reaching the landmark with a six in the 11th over, her strokeplay stretching Malaysia’s fielders and resolve. The stand with Perera swelled to 80 and looked set to bury Malaysia early.
Nurin Imanina offered a brief twist, striking twice in three overs to remove both set batters and momentarily quieten Sri Lanka at the death.
The calm did not last.
Dilhari’s late surge
Kavisha Dilhari and Harshitha Samarawickrama rebuilt with composure, then accelerated with intent. Their partnership of 62 became the second major blow to Malaysia’s hopes, and Dilhari took full control of the closing phase.
All six of her boundaries came after the 16th over, a late-innings assault that punished anything even slightly off length. Sri Lanka surged to 160 for 4, a total that looked imposing on a surface where stroke-making had not always appeared simple.
By the time the innings closed, Malaysia were staring at a chase that demanded both ambition and near-perfection.
They produced neither.
Top order shredded, chase unravels
Malaysia’s reply began in chaos. Ainna Hamizah Hashim was run out in the first over, and the innings never really recovered its shape.
Dilhari, already influential with the bat, returned with the ball and ripped through the top order. She removed Wan Julia and Mas Elysa with successive deliveries to close out the sixth over, leaving Malaysia tottering at 25 for 3 at the end of the Powerplay.
From there, Sri Lanka squeezed.
The bowlers hunted in tandem, denying width, pace, and release. Between overs seven and 18, Malaysia managed just one boundary and scraped together only 40 runs. The asking rate ballooned, the chase drifted, and the result became inevitable long before the final overs.
Athapaththu stepped back into the script late on, collecting two wickets in the 19th over to underline her all-round dominance. Mithali Ayodhya added two more in the last over as Malaysia limped to 74 for 7 from their 20 overs.
Sri Lanka’s margin of victory — 86 runs — told its own story.
Pakistan await
Sri Lanka now move on to face Pakistan in the first semifinal on Sunday, a clash loaded with pedigree and expectation.
On this evidence, with Athapaththu and Dilhari in this kind of brutal, all-round form, they will not be easy to stop.
