Chamari Athapaththu on Sri Lanka's surprise win over England

CHELMSFORD (LONDON): After being named player of the match via a formidable all-round display in Sri Lanka’s surprise eight-wicket win over England for the first time in T20Is, captain Chamari Athapaththu called the victory as "huge" for the team.

Chamari slammed 55 off 40 balls as she led Sri Lanka’s charge of chasing down England's below-par total of 104 with 6.4 overs to spare. With the ball, she took out Danni Wyatt in the opening over to set the tone for a superb bowling performance from Sri Lanka to square three-game series at 1-1.

"I'm really happy about my team's performance. We learned a lot of things from the last game and we executed all the right plans here. As a captain, as a team, this is huge for us. Huge for women's cricket in Sri Lanka," she said after the match ended.

Head coach Malinda Warnapura was full of praise for Chamari’s all-round display. "Chamari has been playing some scintillating cricket for a long period of time. It's lovely to watch. It doesn't show any difference from watching a men's game when Chamari is batting, the way she hits the ball so hard and doesn't worry about gaps."

"She's been working really hard with the bat, but most of the time that when she was bowling, it was only over or two. But now she has proven that she's one of the best allrounders that we have in the world," he was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo after the game ended.

Before beating England, Sri Lanka also defeated New Zealand at home for the first time in T20Is and even got the better of South Africa in the Women’s T20 World Cup opener in February this year. Warnapura, the former Sri Lanka men's batter, admitted it was an exciting time to be involved with the women's team.

"As a coach, it's exciting to watch the way they play, and not only on the field… everywhere, even at training, even at the hotel and when you're travelling. That shows the qualities of discipline, and also that teamwork matters. The girls had this hunger to win. I think this is a good start for them."

Warnapura signed off by expecting England to fightback in T20I series decider at Derby on Wednesday. "It's a great confidence, but when you play against England, you can't just say that you won today and you're going to win tomorrow. It's going to be hard, but the way we are performing, we are playing as a unit and as a team, and that's something that we are looking forward for."