Chamari Athapaththu made history by becoming the first batter to score a hundred in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup. The Sri Lankan captain achieved this milestone against Malaysia on Monday, July 22, at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. She scored an unbeaten 119 off 69 balls, including 14 fours and seven sixes, helping Sri Lanka post a total of 184 for four in 20 overs.
Athapaththu’s innings began cautiously after the early loss of Vishmi Gunaratne. She then partnered with Harshitha Samarawickrama for a 64-run second-wicket stand and later put together a 115-run partnership with Anushka Sanjeewani. Athapaththu reached her half-century off 35 balls and continued to accelerate, particularly in the last three overs.
Her explosive performance included taking Ainna Hamizah Hashim and Aisya Eleesa to task, hitting multiple boundaries and clearing the ropes consistently. She reached her century in the final over with a six off Winfried Duraisingam, marking her third T20I century, having previously scored centuries against Australia and Scotland.
With this feat, Athapaththu, who has accumulated 3153 runs in 136 T20I matches at an average of 24.44, stands as the seventh highest run-scorer in Women’s T20Is. She joins an elite group that includes Suzie Bates, Harmanpreet Kaur, Meg Lanning, Smriti Mandhana, Stafanie Taylor, and Sophie Devine.
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