Nilakshika Silva’s Blazing Fifty Powers Sri Lanka to 258 Against New Zealand

Sri Lanka 258 for 6 (Nilakshika 55, Athapaththu 53, Devine 3-54) vs New Zealand.

Nilakshika Silva struck the quickest fifty of the tournament to provide Sri Lanka with a healthy total of 258 for 6 on the scoreboard. It looks like Sri Lanka can win this match as they have shown their best batting performance of this Women’s World Cup 2025. 

Nilakshika’s innings came at the perfect time, just when Sri Lanka needed a lift, and it was built on the earlier half-century by captain Chamari Athapaththu.

By deciding to bat first in Colombo, Sri Lanka positioned themselves strongly halfway through the innings and needed a good performance in the death overs, too. Silva provided just that. She struck 55 out of 28 hits and seven boundaries, and the only six of the innings. 

This made Sri Lanka to score 80 runs in the last 10 overs. It is a huge improvement for a team that has had a poor record in scoring fast at the end of games. 

Captain Chamari Athapaththu again led by example, scoring a fluent 53, and Vishmi Gunaratne and Hasini Perera played significant supporting roles. Their partnerships paved the way for Silva’s late fireworks, helping Sri Lanka to achieve its second-best score in a World Cup game.

For New Zealand, Sophie Devine was the most outstanding player with the ball. She took three wickets, the most critical one was of Athapaththu, but she was very costly, giving away 54 runs in her nine overs. 

Bree Illing, who stood in place of Lea Tahuhu during this match, and Rosemary Mair claimed one wicket each, but generally, the bowling effort of New Zealand was marred by poor fielding.

New Zealand missed several crucial chances throughout the innings. Early on, Athapaththu edged a delivery on 12 that went unnoticed by everyone except wicketkeeper Izzy Gaze, who made a lone appeal. That missed opportunity proved costly as Athapaththu went on to score her 20th ODI fifty.

Vishmi Gunaratne also enjoyed her share of fortune. On 19, she was initially given out lbw to Amelia Kerr but was saved by a review that showed a faint edge on UltraEdge. Later, Kerr herself dropped a low caught-and-bowled chance, and Suzie Bates spilled another at mid-on shortly after.

As Sri Lanka’s luck continued, Athapaththu miscued one to deep point, but even that didn’t halt their momentum. New Zealand’s fielding woes continued as direct-hit chances were missed, and the outfielders fumbled multiple times. Gaze also missed a stumping and a tough catch behind the wickets, while Hasini Perera survived a close lbw appeal that could have gone either way.

Despite those slices of luck, Sri Lanka’s approach was measured for most of the innings. They lost just two wickets by the 40th over but still scored below five runs an over. When they finally tried to accelerate, they lost three wickets, slipping from 183 for 2 to 198 for 5.

That’s when Nilakshika Silva took charge. She played fearlessly, finding gaps with ease and punishing anything short or wide. Her late burst of boundaries brought the crowd alive and gave Sri Lanka the momentum heading into the break. 

She ended the innings in style with three crisp fours in the final over, lifting Sri Lanka to 258 for 6. It is a total that could very well test New Zealand’s batting lineup in the chase.