Athapaththu's Bristol love-affair keeps Sri Lanka floating with 9-wicket win vs Ireland

Sri Lanka remained alive in the semi-final race of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, following a dominating nine-wicket victory over Ireland in Match 20 on Tuesday, June 23, at County Ground, Bristol. After being asked to bat first, Ireland posted 130/5 in their allotted 20 overs with captain Gaby Lewis (59 off 50), leading from the front with a half-century.

In the second innings, Ireland were blown away by Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu, who continued her love affair with Bristol and notched up her fourth century in T20Is. As a result, she made light work of the run chase, taking her team home in 15.3 overs to boost their net run rate.

Following their win, Sri Lanka rose to fourth place in the Group B points table, while Ireland are reeling at the bottom, still searching for their first win after four matches.

Top run-scorer of the Match

Top wicket-taker of the Match

Player of the Match

Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu was deservedly adjudged Player of the Match for her whirlwind innings. She came into the game on an emotional note, having called herself a failure as captain following her team’s defeat to West Indies.

However, Athapaththu channelised all her emotions in the right place and played her best-ever innings in T20 World Cup history. She brought up her half-century off 30 deliveries and later completed her hundred in 58 balls. Athapaththu remained unbeaten on 106 off 61 balls, smashing 17 fours and two sixes in her innings. 

Earlier, with the ball, she dismissed her Ireland counterpart Gaby Lewis for 59 (50), dismantling her stumps and finishing with figures of 1/23 in three overs. 

Turning Point

Athapaththu’s mind-boggling innings was the major turning point in the match. She didn’t give the Irish bowlers any time to breathe and took them on from the first delivery itself, getting off the mark with a boundary.

Courtesy of her blistering start, Sri Lanka scored 55 runs in the first six overs and brought the required run rate under six an over. She stitched a massive 98-run stand for the first wicket off 72 balls with Imesha Dulani, which completely shifted the balance in Sri Lanka’s favour.

What did the captains say:

Winning Captain, Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka women):

[On scoring another century at Bristol and what makes the venue special] Yeah, I love Bristol. I score most of the runs here, especially in England. So, actually, I played my natural game, and I scored hundred, but the most important thing, we won. So we are waiting one win. So as a captain, as a leader, I always try to lead from the front. That’s what I want to do. No I don't (does she know how many centuries she has?) [On Sri Lanka’s bowling performance] Actually, young Mitali bowled really good, and the rest of the bowlers, the whole bowling unit, done an amazing job. And I’m really happy about bowling unit. Yes please Gaby (hoping for Ireland to beat WI). [On Sri Lanka’s qualification hopes and her experience of the tournament so far] I enjoyed in England this summer. We won two games, one more game left. So I want to play our best game against Scotland, and let’s see what we can do next. And we can’t control those things. So, yeah, unfortunately, we lost against West Indies because last three-four games before we come here, we beat a couple of times West Indies. Unfortunately, we lost that game. So we are in a little bit of trouble now, but we keep smiling and playing our best cricket. That’s the important thing. Same like Colombo. Bristol is same like Colombo at the moment.

Losing Captain, Gaby Lewis (Ireland women):

[On recovering after Ireland were 3 for 2 and rebuilding the innings as captain] Yeah, it was definitely tough. I think you just got to rebuild. And I feel like me and Leah did that well. And look, I think the main thing was for us to just get a partnership, and that was what we focused on. We still want the girls to come in and play freely, and, you know, we’re just waiting for it to come off. But, you know, we didn’t want the girls to retract, because that’s not what you want as well. We need to still get a winning total on. So, yeah, I’m sure the girls will learn, and we’outside the leg-stump come back better. [On the learning curve for Cricket Ireland players as the standard continues to rise] Yeah, definitely. I think the level has gone up, but it also makes you hungrier as a cricketer, I think, after every World Cup, you go back and you go, we’re not far off, like, how close we were to beating New Zealand, and how well we’ve played in patches. It’s just about coming together, and I think that does drive you on to get better. And, yeah, that’s what we’outside the leg-stump look to do before Saturday. [On scoring a second consecutive fifty despite being on the losing side, and on Chamari’s innings] Yeah, amazing. I think, you know, she’s a world-class player. And definitely, one you need to get out, or else it’outside the leg-stump happen what happened today. But, yeah, look, brilliant knock, and yeah, she definitely did what the team needed. [On what Ireland can produce against West Indies in their final match] A win. You know, we beat them in the Tri-Series. The belief is still there in the squad. It’s just about, going back and rectifying our mistakes and where we went wrong today. But, look, same ground, same time, so hopefully we can have some good conversations on how to turn it around for Saturday.