Athapaththu's statement ton powers Sri Lanka's rout of Ireland

Following the loss to West Indies, Chamari Athapaththu was distraught and said she thought she was "a failure as a captain". A couple of days later, she came up with a statement knock, leading from the front with a blistering hundred against Ireland to keep Sri Lanka's slender semifinal hopes afloat.

Ireland finished with 130 for 5 as skipper Gaby Lewis scored a 50-ball 59, but the total proved far from sufficient. Athapaththu blazed away to an unbeaten 106 off 61, which included 17 fours and two sixes, as Sri Lanka got over the line in 15.3 overs with nine wickets in hand.

Athapaththu set the tone for the chase with regular boundaries, scoring six off them inside the first four overs. Three more fours followed in Aimee Maguire's second over while Imesha Dulani got a boundary off Orla Prendergast as Sri Lanka raced away to 55 at the end of the Powerplay. Athapaththu reached her first fifty-plus score of the tournament with a four off Cara Murray, getting to the half-century off 30 balls. She then struck a big six over mid wicket in Murray's second over, shortly after Dulani got a reprieve in the same over. At the end of the 10th over, Athapaththu had moved to 70, with Sri Lanka getting to 86 for 0.

The openers added 98 in quick time before the opening stand ended when Dulani was bowled by Prendergast. Athapaththu targeted Maguire again, striking two fours and a six to get to 90 off 50. Boundaries off Prendergast and Arlene Kelly followed, and the Sri Lankan captain brought up a 58-ball century, her fourth three-figure score in T20Is. She aptly struck the winning boundary as Sri Lanka wrapped up the chase inside 16 overs.

Earlier, asked to bat, Ireland suffered early setbacks as Amy Hunter was run out without scoring in the opening over and Prendergast was stumped off Sugandika Kumari soon after, departing for a duck as well. Rebecca Stokell struck three boundaries but fell to Mithali Ayodhya as Ireland slipped to 19 for 3 at the start of the fourth over, and they managed only 30 in the Powerplay. Skipper Lewis provided some momentum with regular boundaries as Ireland reached 58 for 3 at the halfway stage.

Lewis put on a half-century stand with Leah Paul, who batted sedately before getting out to Nilakshika Silva for 20 off 27 balls. Lewis then brought up her second successive fifty with a four off Kavisha Dilhari and struck another boundary off Nilakshika as Ireland reached 100 in 16 overs. Sri Lanka kept it mostly tight in the death overs, with Athapaththu also accounting for her counterpart, but Alice Tector's handy 28* off 21, which included three fours, helped Ireland finish with 130.

Brief scores: Ireland 130/5 in 20 overs (Gaby Lewis 59 off 50, Alice Tector 28* off 21; Mithali Ayodhya 1-18) lost to Sri Lanka 134/1 in 15.3 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 106* off 61, Imesha Dulani 20 off 27; Orla Prendergast 1-22) by 9 wickets.