Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh to complete Commonwealth Games line-up

Captain Chamari Athapaththu leads her team to victory in the winner-take-all contest in Kuala Lumpur

Kinrara Academy Oval: Sri Lanka 136-6, Bangladesh 114-5 - Sri Lanka won by 22 runs

Scorecard

Sri Lanka women have completed the line-up for cricket's return to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham this summer.

They beat Bangladesh by 22 runs in a winner-takes-all clash to finish top of the five-team table.

Captain Chamari Athapaththu led them to victory with 48 from 28 balls as part of a first innings score of 136 for 6.

Athapaththu then claimed 3 for 17 as Bangladesh fell short in the chase, eventually finishing on 114 for 5.

The player of the competition scored 221 runs and claimed four wickets across the four-match campaign in which they won every game.

Scotland, Malaysia and Kenya were the other sides to miss out on securing the final place.

^{Qualification comes after Sri Lanka were denied a place at the 50-over World Cup in Australia (ICC)}

Cricket will appear at the Commonwealth Games for just the second time, and first for 24 years, later this year in the form of an eight-team women's T20 competition.

Its only other appearance came in 1998 when a 16-nation 50-over men's event was staged, eventually won by South Africa.

Australia, Barbados (selected to represent West Indies), India and Pakistan make-up Group A.

Hosts England, New Zealand and South Africa are joined by Sri Lanka following their exploits in Kuala Lumpur.

Qualification comes after they were denied the chance to secure a berth at the 50-over World Cup after the qualification event in Zimbabwe was cancelled due to the emergence of a new Covid-19 variant.

The curtailment of the tournament saw the ICC allow Bangladesh, Pakistan and the West Indies to progress based on their world ranking.