Dewmi Wijeratne
Sri Lanka under-19 women’s cricketer Dewmi Wijeratne who did not have a proper school up-bringing in the sport had a dream run at the tri-nation championship in Bangladesh where she won the player of the final award on Friday.
In an interview with the Sunday Observer she said the success of the under-19 team could inspire more girls to take to the sport.
“Winning the player of the final award was my dream and I was happy to give my all-round performance to win the championship title”, said Wijeratne just before she boarded her return flight.
Wijeratne hails from a village girls’ school in Giriulla, Bopitiya that does not play cricket but she was fortunate that the boys’ school had a team.
There the coach of the team invited her for practices and Wijeratne was on her way to success.
“I was keen to play cricket and this was a good opportunity for me and without any hesitation I decided to attend practices and that was my turning point”, said Wijeratne who is one of the most promising all-rounders in women’s cricket in the island.
While still at school she got the opportunity of playing club cricket that paved the way for her to enter the limelight for a place in the Sri Lanka Under-19 team from the Development squad whose coach was Mahesh Weerasinghe who is the present Sri Lanka women’s under 19 head coach.
Playing for Chilaw Marians in the club scene she showed her hitting prowess that impressed Weerasinghe who had no hesitation in having her as the team’s opening batter for the Bangladesh tri-nation series which was her first overseas international appearance.
Wijeratne made 49 in 42 balls with two fours and four sixes in the final against Bangladesh and put on a match-winning opening stand of 104 in 86 balls with Nethmi Senaratne who made an unbeaten 66 in 57 balls with eight fours as Sri Lanka made 148 for 3 in the 20 overs.
In reply Bangladesh was restricted to 112 for 8 in 20 overs and Wijeratne played a major role with the ball picking up three wickets for just 13 runs as her captain Manudi Nanayakkara had no hesitation in giving her the new ball.
According to Weerasinghe the players had just one week to come together before leaving for Bangladesh.
Pakistan was the third team in the fray that Sri Lanka was able to beat while losing to Bangladesh in the qualifying round.
The team is now looking forward to a home tri-nation series featuring England and Australia in March and Weerasinghe said the success in Bangladesh was a boost for the players.
