Australian batsman Glenn Maxwell would have had his stars to thank that a village princess charming fell short of knocking him off his throne that he grabbed going through some of the most painful moments on the cricket field just five months ago.
Maxwell made 201 on that occasion in a World Cup match against Afghanistan in November last year that made him the batter with the highest individual score in a run chase in ODI cricket.
But as most Sri Lankans were wrapped in slumber on Wednesday night, far away in a land of dreams Sri Lanka’s queen of cricket Chamari Atapattu was making poetry in motion a reality as she hit the highest score of 195 in a run chase in women’s ODI cricket and fell short by seven runs of knocking off Maxwell from his pedestal.
It marked the first time that a woman came sensationally close to threaten a man’s coveted position in world cricket as Chamari reigned supreme in chasing down South Africa’s 301-target in the deciding ODI and nothing seemed to bother her after Sri Lanka lost a flurry of wickets to be four down for 126.
“I love to play under pressure and I always play under pressure. Without pressure I cannot play”, Chamari remarked after her image-changing innings that made Sri Lanka now treasurer the honour of becoming the first team to successfully chase a score of 300-plus in women’s ODI cricket.
Modest, down-to-earth, unassuming and gracefully elegant are words that can find a true meaning not in the wardrobes of women of vanity but in one of Sri Lanka’s most artistic females who rose from humble beginnings to rub shoulders with the world’s elite on the cricket field and now perhaps beyond.
“I want to see another player in Sri Lanka go past my score (195) very soon”, said Chamari in all her modesty.
None will grudge the fact that Chamari in what must be a world’s most unparalleled feat has her name from top to bottom on the list of all-time leading run-scorers for a country and as captain she has led her team to victories over England, New Zealand and South Africa in ODI cricket to deservedly be named captain of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) women’s team in 2023.
If the ICC decides to change the Rules, Chamari could be the first woman to play in a men’s team.
