The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
That'll be all from this game! We hope you enjoyed our coverage of the same but do ensure you keep yourselves up to date with all the other cricketing news and action from across the globe here on Sportskeeda. Thank you so much for joining us today - on behalf of my partner-in-crime Pratyush Rohra, this is Sooryanarayanan Sesha once again reminding you to mask up and get vaccinated in case you haven't already. Good night and take care!
Suzie Bates (Falcons Captain): So proud of the group. We didn't have Marizanne Kapp or Britney Cooper, our superstars. But we stuck to it on the field and did really well. (Did she give Athapaththu any advice?) I was just trying to show her I was actually contributing something (laughs). (On the team coming together) It's a little tough on the field but you're just figuring it out on the go as to where their best fielding positions are. Off the field though we couldn't have asked for a better group (she then signs of suggesting she'd love to get some sleep when told to celebrate!)
Sindhu Sriharsha (Warriors Captain): Yeah definitely we got off to the perfect start. We were going well at the halfway stage. But Athapaththu and Suzie Bates batted brilliantly. It's a mix culturally (in the team) - we have players from 13 countries in our team. It was our first day on the field and it was good to get out there. It was just to get out there and play as a team. We'll come back stronger.
Chamari Athapaththu (Player of the Match): I enjoy my cricket everyday. I didn't play any international cricket in the last couple of months. I was in the nets for that time and these are the results. Suzie is one of the best player in the world. She's a good captain and she gave me plenty of advice in the middle. I'm happy to have her support.
Clinical. Dominant. Professional. You can coin a number of terms to describe this chase led by two of the world's finest batters in Chamari Athapaththu and Suzie Bates. It's never easy chasing down 178 but well, they made it look far too easy in the end as the margin of victory suggests.
Athapaththu meant business from the word go. She wasn't going to die wondering - she never does anyway, but the rollicking start that she gave the Falcons in the Powerplay put the Warriors attack under the pump. Everything that Sindhu Sriharsha and Co. tried went in vain with the opening duo impossible to dislodge.
93 was the target at the end of 10 overs to secure the bonus point and that was done in a canter really. When wickets don't come in the Powerplay or the middle-overs, it's as good as over if you're a bowling unit looking to defend a total. That is exactly how things unfolded and a dropped chance summed up the outing for the Warriors.
Eventually, a couple of wickets did fall with Bates falling after a sublime 43-ball 60 and Theertha Satish failing to make a mark. That said, Athapaththu kept the chase well in control and sealed it in grand fashion just after notching up a century. The tournament is up and running and this is quite the start that one would've asked for after Hayley Matthews and Georgia Redmayne set it up in the first half with a 90-run stand, signaling a batting exhibition of some kind that was to last the entirety of this contest!
A fitting end to a run-fest at the Dubai International Stadium! And poetically, it is Athapaththu who has the final say in the contest after what has been a masterclass of incredible proportions! Falcons beat Warriors by 8 wickets with as many deliveries to spare!
19.0
18.4 Kathryn Bryce to Chamari Athapaththu, SIX! AND SHE FINISHES IT OFF IN STYLE! Back of a length on the middle-stump, she's been picking those all day long. Rocks back and does exactly that again as she muscles this over the square leg boundary to seal the deal for her side. Falcons Women win by 8 wickets and take the three points!
A century of the highest order from one of the finest doing the rounds! Take a bow, Chamari Athapaththu! That's some way to announce your arrival in the competition alright!
18.3 Kathryn Bryce to Chamari Athapaththu, FOUR! CENTURY FOR CHAMARI ATHAPATHTHU! What a way to kick off the tournament. Good length on the leg-stump line, Athapaththu gets down on one knee and sweeps this past short fine leg to bring up her landmark
18.2 Kathryn Bryce to Chamari Athapaththu, full on the leg-stump line, Athapaththu backs away to clear some room and bunts this over the bowler's head to pick up a brace at long-on
18.1 Kathryn Bryce to Mariko Hill, full and outside the off-stump, Hill presses into a drive to find extra cover and sneaks across to the other end
Superb over from Hayley Matthews. Is there anything she possibly can't do on a cricket field? Suddenly, there's a smidgen of hope perhaps for the Warriors. Falcons need 13 to win off 2 overs!
18
overs
165/2score
2
W
1
0
0
1
runs
Chamari Atapattu
95(52)
Mariko Hill*
1(3)
Hayley Matthews
1/23
17.6 Hayley Matthews to Mariko Hill, fuller to slide it into the off-side, Hill throws the kitchen sink at it but skews a thick inside edge to short fine leg to scamper across for one
17.5 Hayley Matthews to Mariko Hill, on the good length outside off-stump, Hill looks for the slog sweep but she's way too early into her shot on this occasion, no run
17.4 Hayley Matthews to Mariko Hill, good length with some sharp turn into the right-hander, Hill stays on the back foot to defend this off the thick inside edge that squeezes through to square leg, no run
17.3 Hayley Matthews to Chamari Athapaththu, speared in full on the middle stump line, Athapaththu bunts it down to long-on for a single
Mariko Hill, RHB, comes to the crease. She will be at the non-striker's end.
It's not quite over yet it seems. Of course, as long as Athapaththu is out there, there's only one way this game's headed you'd think!