Cricket

Sri Lanka edge Scotland in drama-filled last-over win

By AAP Newswire

Jun 27, 2026

Sydney Thunder star Chamari Athapaththu smacked a 16-ball 33 for Sri Lanka against Scotland. -AAP Image

Sri Lanka have kept alive their slim hopes of making the Women's Twenty20 World Cup semifinals for the first time after a dramatic last-over win over Scotland at Old Trafford.

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Sri Lanka chased down the 152 target on the penultimate ball to win by three wickets.

Scotland medium-pacer Rachel Slater bowled the last over, trying to prevent Sri Lanka from scoring seven runs.

She conceded singles off the first three deliveries then pulled up and collapsed to the ground with a suspected knee injury.

Slater eventually left the field in tears and Priyanaz Chatterji stepped up, conceding a single before the winning boundary to tailender Sugandika Kumari.

Sri Lanka needed their best-ever third win in one World Cup to be by a bigger margin, inside 10.3 overs.

Going the distance barely improved their net run rate and the West Indies can now grab the second and last semifinal spot in their group by cruising against winless Ireland on Saturday.

Scotland, in their second T20 World Cup, finished fifth in the group but were chasing fourth place and a direct spot into the 2028 T20 World Cup in Pakistan.

Only Sydney Sixers wicketkeeper Sarah Bryce, in after her sister and captain Kathryn fell at 2-66 in the 10th over, made the Sri Lankans sweat with an unbeaten 33-ball 47 and a last-ball boundary for a 6-151 total.

Sri Lanka captain and Sydney Thunder WBBL star Chamari Athapaththu, appearing in her 10th T20 World Cup, exploded with a 16-ball 33, but after her exit at 2-57 in the sixth over her teammates slowed and crawled over the finish line at 7-154.