BAN Women vs SL Women, 5th Match, Group 1 at Cape Town, WT20 WC, Feb 12 2023 - Ball by Ball Commentary

10.03 pm Harshitha hits the winning runs to end 69 not out having gotten a life on 46. de Silva was dropped on 5 and ends 41 not out. Bangladesh's fielding on the whole was poor and aside from Marufa's opening spell, their bowlers were mostly toothless as well. The sloppiness in the field by Bangladesh was mirrored at times while batting where they had two inexplicable runouts. On the whole, Sri Lanka won this match simply by playing mistake-free cricket for the large majority of play while Bangladesh shot themselves in the foot early and often. Not sure if they have any toes remaining on their feet after all the bullets that went in that direction.

Captain Athatpaththu lifts Harshitha in the air to show how delighted she is with the half-century from her young charge. And Harshitha Samawickrama has been named Player of the Match: "[Via translator] After Chamari got out, she had to take responsibility for the better of the team. She felt it was a bouncy track and for spin she used her feet to get to the pitch of the ball and she said that's what she did. [On her six] Because it was a free hit, it was in her range so she took the chance and it went for six."

Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana Joty: "I think we had great batting during the Powerplay, but after six overs we couldn't manage any boundaries which cost us. We just wanted to continue that [Powerplay] on the batting side into the next match. We need to work on our boundary hitting options. We also lost 15-20 runs in the last five overs, and we lost too many wickets. Marufa bowled really well today. She just came from the U19 World Cup and showed how valuable she is to the side. It was a very good surface. We did very well in the batting side [in the Powerplay] but we ended 15-20 runs short. If we could have made at least 140+, it could be different. We have Australia to think about now in a few days and are looking forward to that."

Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu: "I'm feeling good. I'm really happy about our team performance, Harshitha batting really well and Nilakshi as a finisher. It was a really good team performance. I just play my natural game. I got out early, Vishmi got out early, but we do not depend on one or two batters in this tournament. We've been working on our batting and have confidence now in our batting lineup because we don't depend on one or two batters. We have six strong batters in our team. The new coach introduced new strategy and we have a lot of positive vibes in our team just trying to play our natural games. Australia is one of the best teams in the world and a world champion team. We need to improve our bowling a bit and continue our positive batting, just play our natural games."

So Sri Lanka have four points from their first two games. And with the walloping Australia gave New Zealand which killed the New Zealand net run rate, Sri Lanka is in a very solid position at the moment to try to secure a semi-final berth. But their two remaining matches are against by far their two toughest opponents to come. Bangladesh have their work cut out during the rest of the group stage.

That's it for today's live coverage. Come back tomorrow for another doubleheader at the Women's T20 World Cup when England take on Ireland in the early game followed by South Africa facing New Zealand at night. Until then, I'm Peter Della Penna. Take care!

JT: "After 14.5 overs the game was Bangladesh's to lose, and after 15.3 overs they had pretty much lost it ! - such a shame for them."

Marufa is back for her final lover.

Asahel: "3 balls and this almost done and dusted...missed stumping, a no ball that goes for 4 and the free hit going for a maximum...so little margin for error in a low scoring game "

Equation is down to a run a ball now.

James : "I think Bangladesh have a lengthy losing streak. It feels like they're making a lot of silly mistakes, which may cost them this game. It happens with losing teams. "