Commonwealth Games 2022: Sri Lanka qualify for women’s T20 tournament in Birmingham
Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh to top the points table at the CWG qualifying tournament, winning all four matches to grab the final spot at Birmingham 2022.
Sri Lanka have claimed the final spot in the women’s T20 cricket competition at the Commonwealth Games 2022 after beating Bangladesh in the qualifying tournament held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last week.
With Sri Lanka's confirmation as the eight team, cricket became the first discipline to announce a complete line-up for Birmingham 2022.
"It’s good to have finalised the identity of the teams participating in the Commonwealth Games. The Commonwealth Games are an important part of the women’s cricket calendar over the next year. It is a huge opportunity for us to take cricket beyond the traditional strongholds and give more people around the world the chance to enjoy the game," International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Geoff Allardice said.
The Indian women’s cricket team, along with Australia, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Barbados had booked their spots for CWG 2022 earlier. Sri Lanka completes the eight-team line-up.
India, Australia, Pakistan and Barbados form one group while England, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka will make up the second group. The top two in each group will advance to the semi-finals.
The Commonwealth Games cricket qualifying tournament was held in a round-robin league format with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Scotland, Malaysia and Kenya all playing each other once. The table-toppers earned a spot for Birmingham 2022.
All the matches were played at the Kinrara Oval and were accorded T20 International status.
Sri Lanka beat Scotland, Kenya and Malaysia in their first three matches while Bangladesh defeated Malaysia, Kenya and Scotland.
Monday’s clash between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh was thus a virtual final. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, placed at eighth and ninth, respectively, were the top two teams in the tournament as per the ICC T20I rankings.
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapathtu was the star player against Bangladesh. The veteran opener first top-scored with 48 to carry Sri Lanka to 136/6 and then returned figures of 3/17 in her four overs to restrict Bangladesh to 114/5. Sri Lanka won by 22 runs.
Birmingham 2022 will mark cricket’s second appearance at the Commonwealth Games after the 1998 edition in Kuala Lumpur.
Cricket at the Commonwealth Games 2022 is scheduled to begin on July 29 and conclude on August 7.