AFC Women’s Cup 2026, Match 6 between IDN-W and SL-W, Group B Match Report, 02 September 2026

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Sri Lanka 124 for 7 (Nilakshika 50, Loh Dewi 3-32) won Indonesia 49 all out (Athapathu 7-5) by 75 runs

Athapathu was undoubtedly the perfect choice for the bowlers, starting and ending Indonesia’s slide with her The best career numbers are 7 to 5including a triple – nearly two in fact. Chasing a target of 125, the opening pair of Maria Corazon and Rahmawati Pangestuti scored 16 runs in the first two overs, but once play got underway the scoring slowed to a trickle and Indonesia were eventually bowled out for 49 in the 19th over.

Sri Lanka also found it difficult to combat Indonesia’s combination of spin and slow-medium seamers as they stumbled to 62 for 6 in the 13th over, but their innings received a timely boost when Nilakshika countered with a stunning back-to-the-wall effort to drag her side to a total that looked up to par on a very slow surface. In the end it proved to be a lot.

Sri Lanka struggled early

Having been put to bat on a new surface, Sri Lanka were perhaps guilty of a certain complacency towards their lesser-known opponents. Time and time again, the Supreme Order sought to find the limits, and time and again failed to find their timing.

On a wicket where the ball was barely coming, the tunnel vision of the Sri Lankan batsmen was squarely focused on hitting boundaries and avoiding the spin of the strike; There were 19 dot balls in the powerplay which fetched 31 runs for the loss of two wickets.

By the midway point of the innings, the score had risen to 28. Meanwhile, the scorecard was reading 47 for 5. To Indonesia’s credit, they did a good job of running to their respective pitches and frustrating the Lanka batters.

Sanjana Kavindi got to double figures with a pair of well-taken boundaries, but she was the only one of Sri Lanka’s top five to do so – and she eventually finished on 15 cut attempts in a row.

Nilakshika brings a liner to Silva

With recognized batsmen quickly running out, Sri Lanka needed someone to take control of the innings, and as they have done so often over recent years, it was Nilakshika who stood up to be counted.

She first put together 17 of 18 with Kaushini Nuthyangana, but when Nuthyangana fell, Nilakshika produced a masterclass in tail-stroking. I flattered Kavya Kavindi To continue the batting rotation, and when the opportunity arose, she was unerring in finding boundaries – including Sri Lanka’s first over and the only six of the innings in the penultimate over.

Their seventh-wicket partnership eventually ended at 50 off 36, arriving simultaneously with Nilakshika’s fifty – her third in T20Is – but by then she had already sent her side to safety.

Athapathu steals the show

In Chithana Vimukthi, Sri Lanka may have had the first true civilization ever fast A bowler but on a wicket where the ball wasn’t quite coming, pace never seemed to be the answer. In the first two overs of the chase, Indonesia’s openers managed to find boundaries against Vimukthi and fellow seamer Kawia, but then Sri Lanka introduced their spinners.

Athapaththu immediately castled Pangestuti before removing Corazon and Rada Rani from back-to-back deliveries in the next over. Here she narrowly missed her hat-trick, the yorker narrowly missing Dessie Wolandari’s off-stump.

She brought herself back into the attack in the 14th over and removed Nanda Saccarini, capping things off with her hat-trick in the second time of asking, taking three wickets from what proved to be the last three deliveries of the innings.

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