Shashikala Siriwardene made vital contributions with bat and ball as Sri Lanka registered their first win of the ICC Women’s World T20 2018 with a 25-run defeat of Bangladesh.

Siriwardene scored a vital 33-ball 31 to prop a stuttering Sri Lankan line-up to 97/7 before returning figures of 2 for 10 in her team’s successful defence.

The result left the Asian champions winless in the competition after three games, ruling them out of contention for a semifinal berth.

For Bangladesh, this game in St. Lucia reprised all that was good and bad from their opener against Windies. Here again, they won the toss and were impressive with the ball.

 Jahanara Alam (3 for 21) struck first ball to bowl Yasoda Mendis. With swing in the air, Sri Lanka decided to hold back Chamari Athapaththu, a decision that brought only 17 runs in the PowerPlay as Hasini Perera and Dilani Mandodara were expertly kept in check.

A sluggish outfield – aftereffects of last week’s incessant rain – and tight bowling meant by the 12th over, Sri Lanka had only 49 runs on the board. To add to their woes, the Athapaththu at No.4 experiment failed leaving them in need of another middle-order fulcrum to guide the total to respectability.

Siriwardene stepped up to the plate. With only the lower-order for company, she opted a more pragmatic approach, knocking the ball in gaps to sneak quick runs. She managed a couple of fours and a six along the way to push the total to 97.

Salma Khatun, the Bangladesh skipper, was hopeful of restricting the opposition under 120 ahead of the match. Her bowling unit had gone one better to keep Sri Lanka under 100. But Khatun had no specific memo for the batters.

They were two down in response without scoring a run. Sanjida Islam was the recipient of a poor LBW decision off the first ball but her partner Ayasha Rahman wasn’t quick on the uptake to suggest a review. Two balls later, Fargana Hoque reviewed her LBW decision but had to depart nevertheless because of umpire’s call. Udeshika Prabodhani had set the cat among the pigeons with her first over.

Bangladesh responded by going into their shells. A total lack of run-scoring intent meant they had only 28/4 at the half-way mark. In all, they managed to score only three boundaries as the two senior Sri Lankan pros, Athapaththu and Siriwardene, combined to take five wickets between them to bowl Bangladesh out for a sorry 72 .

With three points from as many games, Sri Lanka stay alive in the competition. They’ll play the hosts and defending champions Windies on November 17 in their final Group A fixture.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 97/7 in 20 overs (Shashikala Siriwardene 31; Jahanara Alam 3-21) beat Bangladesh 72 in 20 overs (Nigar Sultana 20; Chamari Athapaththu 3-17, Shashikala Siriwardene 2-8) by 25 runs. (Cricbuzz)