Chamari Athapaththu Scripts World Record Spell To Sink Indonesia In Asia Cup

Chamari Athapaththu [Source: AFP]

Sri Lanka Women crushed Indonesia to continue their winning ways in the ongoing 2026 Women’s Asia Cup in Dubai. Captain and legendary all-rounder Chamari Athapaththu bagged the ‘Player of the Match’ award for her impeccable spell in the second half of the game.

Not giving away an inch to the Indonesian batters, Athapaththu picked up seven wickets at an expense of just five runs from her 3.3 overs to record her maiden five-wicket haul in international cricket. In the process, the 36-year-old also scripted one of the best bowling figures in Women’s T20I history. 

A hat-trick and a record spell for Chamari Athapaththu in Asia Cup 2026

Sri Lanka Women, led by Chamari Athapaththu, put up 124-7 from 20 overs on the board against Indonesia in match number six of the 2026 Women’s Asia Cup at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday, September 2.

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Defending 125 runs to win, captain Athapaththu employed herself in the fourth over of the Indonesia innings, and made instant impact with the wicket of Rahmawati Pangestuti. The cunning off-spinner also knocked over Indonesia’s other opener, Maria Corazon, in her very next over before trapping Ni Kadek Fitria Rada Rani in front of stumps.

Wrecking Indonesia’s top-order, the 36-year-old also blew away their lower-order with a sizzling hat-trick, dismissing Ni Ariani, Sang Maypriani and Dara Paramitha in successive deliveries. 

In doing so, the legendary batting all-rounder scripted the fifth best bowling figures by any bowler in Women’s T20I history. Moreover, Chamari Athapaththu’s spell of 7-5 marks the best-ever figures by any women’s bowler from an ICC member nation in the shortest format of the game. Here is a look at some of the best bowling figures in Women’s T20I matches.

Best Bowling Figures in WT20Is:

• 9/4 – Laura Cardoso (Brazil) vs Lesotho, Gaborone (Oval 2), 2026
• 7/0 – Rohmalia Rohmalia (Indonesia) vs Mongolia, Bali, 2024
• 7/3 – Frederique Overdijk (Netherlands) vs France, Cartagena, 2021
• 7/3 – Alison Stocks (Argentina) vs Peru, Seropedica, 2022
• 7/5 – Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka) vs Indonesia, Dubai (DICS), 2026, Tonight*
• 7/15 – Samanthi Dunukedeniya (Cyprus) vs Czech Republic, Vinor, 2025

Chamari Athapaththu scripts huge Women’s Asia Cup record

Chamari Athapaththu also scripted the best-ever bowling figures in a Women’s T20 Asia Cup match. She broke the record of Wongpaka Liengprasert, who previously snared figures of 5-12 for Thailand Women in a 2018 Asia Cup game nearly a decade ago. 

Best Bowling Figures in Women’s T20I Asia Cup:

• 7/5 – Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka) vs Indonesia, Dubai (DICS), 2026, Tonight*
• 5/12 – Wongpaka Liengprasert (Thailand) vs Sri Lanka, Kuala Lumpur, 2018
• 5/13 – Omaima Sohail (Pakistan) vs Sri Lanka, Sylhet, 2022
• 5/21 – Nida Dar (Pakistan) vs Sri Lanka, Kuala Lumpur, 2018

Athapaththu becomes first Sri Lanka player to take a hat-trick

Athapaththu additionally became the first Sri Lanka cricketer in history to pick up a hat-trick in a Women’s T20I match. 

She joined Inoka Ranaweera as one of only two Sri Lankan players to have taken an international hat-trick, however, the former skipper claimed her hat-trick in an ODI match back in November 2015 against New Zealand Women at Lincoln. 

Athapaththu’s Sri Lanka remains unbeaten in Asia Cup title-defense

Under the leadership of Chamari Athapaththu, Sri Lanka blanked Indonesia by 75 runs in Dubai to register their second successive win in the 2026 Women’s Asia Cup. They are currently placed at the top of the Group B points table with two wins in two games and with a formidable NRR of 4.129. 

The defending champions will now face Bangladesh to cap their Group B campaign on September 6 later this weekend. 

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