Sri Lanka Cricket announces $100,000 reward for Chamari Athapaththu's Women's Asia Cup-winning team
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced a prize of $100,000 (or ₹83.7 lakh) for the Chamari Athapaththu-led side that defeated India by eight wickets in the 2024 Women's Asia Cup final in Dambulla on Sunday (July 28). The announcement was made in the post match-presentation, with the broadcasters saying that it was in addition to the $20,000 (or ₹16.48 lakh) prize money of the tournament.
It was simply a brilliant win for the hosts against the defending champions. They kept India down to a competitive 165 in the first innings, thanks to the tight and frugal bowling by most of their spinners and the regularity in picking up six wickets.
In the second innings, Sri Lanka's innings didn't get off to a good start as a horrible mix-up between Athapaththu and her opening partner Vishmi Gunaratne led to the latter's run-out. Although the skipper was at fault, she recovered from it quickly and found regular boundaries starting from the sixth over.
She put up a brilliant 87-run stand alongside youngster Harshitha Madavi, who had dropped a couple of catches in the first innings. It was broken by Deepti Sharma bowling Athapaththu behind her legs a few minutes after she reached her half-century.
However, Harshitha (who got lucky with Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur dropping an easy chance) and Kavisha Dilhari gave a peek into Sri Lanka's post-Athapaththu future by chasing the total with eight wickets and eight balls remaining.
"We have to inspire the next generation" - Chamari Athapaththu
After the match, Athapaththu thanked the two young batters, the crowd and the coaching department for helping Sri Lanka achieve their biggest award in a long time.
"I am really happy about my team's performance, especially our batting," Chamari said. "Special credit to Harshitha and Dilhari. This is not a one man show. The whole team helped me a lot. Support staff, youngsters, seniors. Finally we have won an Asia Cup. I have never seen such a crowd. Special thanks to Sri Lankan people and the crowd. They have helped my team.
"It's been really good for my Sri Lanka because we have to inspire the next generation. I enjoy my cricket all the time in the middle. I do my duty for my country and my team. We always talk about positive things in the dressing room. Special thanks to the coaches for that. This is not the end. Our next target is the World Cup," she added.
Asked about if she'd continue to play for Sri Lanka for a long time still, she said:
"Yeah, I will hopefully continue. Till the next World Cup."
This was Sri Lanka Women's first Asia Cup title.