Nilakshika fifty, Athapaththu seven-for rescue Sri Lanka against Indonesia

Athapaththu picked up a hat-trick as the defending Asia Cup champions cruised to victory despite posting only 124 for 7

Sri Lanka 124 for 7 (Nilakshika 50, Luh Dewi 3-32) beat Indonesia 49 all out (Athapaththu 7-5) by 75 runs

A Chamari Athapaththu seven-wicket haul and Nilakshika Silva's 50 off 35 saw defending champions Sri Lanka withstand a valiant Indonesian side to register a resounding 75-run victory in their Asia Cup match in Dubai.

Athapaththu was undoubtedly the pick of the bowlers, as she started and finished Indonesia's slide with career-best figures of 7 for 5, inclusive of a hat-trick - nearly two in fact. Chasing a target of 125, the opening pair of Maria Corazon and Rahmawati Pangestuti struck 16 runs in the first two overs, but once spin came into play scoring slowed down to a trickle and Indonesia were eventually bowled out for 49 in the 19th over.

Sri Lanka, too, had found it tough to combat Indonesia's mix of spin and slow-medium seamers as they stumbled to 62 for 6 in the 13th over, but their innings received a timely boost as Silva countered with a trademark backs-against-the-wall effort to drag her side to a total that seemed about par on a pretty sluggish surface. In the end it proved to be plenty.

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