Sri Lanka kept alive their slim hopes of making the Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals for the first time after a dramatic last-over win over Scotland at Old Trafford.
Sri Lanka chased down the 152 target on the penultimate ball and won by three wickets.
Scotland medium-pacer Rachel Slater bowled the last over, trying to prevent Sri Lanka from scoring seven runs.
She conceded singles off the first three deliveries, then pulled up and collapsed to the ground with a suspected knee injury.
Slater eventually left the field in tears, Priyanaz Chatterji stepped up, conceded a single but then the winning boundary to tailender Sugandika Kumari.
Sri Lanka needed their best-ever third win in one World Cup to be by a bigger margin, inside 10.3 overs, but going the distance barely improved their net run rate and the West Indies can clinch the second and last semi-final spot in their group by beating winless Ireland on Saturday.
Scotland, at their second T20 World Cup, sought fourth place and a direct spot into the 2028 T20 World Cup in Pakistan.
But only Sarah Bryce, in after her sister and captain Kathryn fell at 66-2 in the 10th over, made the Sri Lankans sweat with an unbeaten 33-ball 47 and a last-ball boundary for a 151-6 total.
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu, appearing in her 10th T20 World Cup, exploded with a 16-ball 33 but after her exit at 57-2 in the sixth over her team-mates slowed and crawled over the finish line at 154-7.
Sri Lanka, who move into third place with their third win of the tournament, need West Indies to lose heavily to Ireland and New Zealand to lose to England on Saturday to advance from Group 2 on net run-rate.
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Sophie Ecclestone became the fifth bowler to claim 150 wickets in T20 internationals during England’s win over Scotland
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