It was a slightly improved performance from West Indies after they were beaten by nine wickets by India in their Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup opener, but it was not enough to challenge Sri Lanka in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. With an 81-run win, Sri Lanka have now made it two-in-two in Group A of the competition.

Batting first after winning the toss, Sri Lanka rode on contributions from opener Sanjana Kavindi (39 off 36 balls), captain and No. 3 batter Manudi Nanayakkara (41 off 31) and middle-order bat Dahami Sanethma (31 not out off 25), as well as 36 extras to put up the highest score in the tournament so far - 166 for 5, topping their own 162 for 6 against Malaysia.

That might have been too much for West Indies to overhaul, and left-arm spinner Chamodi Praboda’s spell in the powerplay, where she accounted for Asabi Callender, Naijanni Cumberbatch and Jahzara Claxton, put the result beyond doubt.

There were pockets of resistance after the initial setbacks, especially from captain Samara Ramnath, who scored a 23-ball 24 opening the innings, but there wasn’t much of note from the other batters - Claxton, Amrita Ramtahal and Kenika Casaar were the only others to just about make it into double digits.

Aseni Thalagune took 2 for 16 to complement Praboda’s 3 for 16, and West Indies, always well behind the asking rate, only got as far as 90.

Hosts Malaysia and defending champions India are also in the same group and go head-to-head later in the day.

Source: ESPNCricinfo
--Agencies