Sri Lanka's nervy win leaves semifinal fate hanging in balance

Sri Lanka secured a nervy win over Scotland in their final group game of the Women's T20 World Cup on Friday in Manchester, winning off the penultimate ball. This result puts them level on points with West Indies, but their semifinal hopes have been significantly dented given they needed to hammer Scotland to boost their Net Run Rate.

Sri Lanka's semifinal chances were never completely in their hands. They needed England to beat New Zealand and Ireland to stun the West Indies. Now they must hope Ireland can deliver a thrashing that lowers West Indies' NRR. At one point, even victory looked difficult as Scotland put on a spirited show with the ball after posting 151/6.

Scotland scored 21 runs in the first two overs, but Sri Lanka kept them in check. Scotland's dot ball percentage remained high despite regular boundaries. After 15 overs, they were 100/3. Sarah Bryce (15 off 16) gave Scotland momentum at the death alongside Ailsa Lister, but Nilakshika Silva's two tight overs proved crucial in limiting Scotland to 151/6.

Nilakshika came to Sri Lanka's rescue in the chase as well. Chamari Athapaththu went all guns blazing, smashing fours and sixes in the Powerplay. Hasini Perera also batted aggressively as Sri Lanka wiped out 55 runs after just five overs. But Athapaththu was castled attempting a big heave in the final over of the Powerplay.

Scotland fought back with regular strikes. Hasini miscued in the 9th over, Hansima Karunaratne was trapped lbw, and Harshitha Samarawickrama followed. From 55/1 after 5 overs, Sri Lanka slumped to 81/4 at halfway. Needing 46 from 42 with five wickets in hand, their target became just getting over the line.

Kirstie Gordon caused more panic, picking up a wicket and bowling a tight over that left 27 needed from 18. Kaushani Nuthyangana hit back-to-back boundaries but was dismissed immediately, leaving Nilakshi to do it herself. She managed enough in the penultimate over before Sugandika Kumari found the boundary off the second-last ball to seal the win.

Brief scores: Scotland 151/6 in 20 overs (Sarah Bryce 47*, Darcey Carter 34; Mithali Ayodhya 2-34) lost to Sri Lanka 154/7 in 19.5 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 33, Nilakshi Silva 21*; Katherine Fraser 2-25, Kathryn Bryce 2-28) by 3 wickets