Women’s Premier League side UP Warriorz on Friday announced that English fast bowler Lauren Bell had withdrawn from the upcoming season and named Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu as a replacement.
“Among the most powerful hitters in the game, the Lankan captain is also one of the most experienced players, having featured in over 120 T20Is. Known for her attacking batting, Chamari is the only Lankan woman to have scored a century in T20Is. She has been signed for her base price of Rs 30 lakh,” the WPL said in a statement.
Athapaththu is the the Sri Lanka women’s team captain and was unsold during the WPL 2024 auctions which came as a surprise to many due to her form in the shortest format in 2023. Last year, she scored 470 runs in 16 T20Is and picked eight wickets.
NEWS – @UPWarriorz name Chamari Athapaththu as replacement for Lauren Bell.
More details – https://t.co/HBtkixgwJD #TATAWPL pic.twitter.com/jfF4ICwabQ
— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) January 26, 2024
She had also led Sri Lanka to a historic first-time series win over England and finished the series as the leading scorer and the joint-leading wicket-taker.
In the Women’s Big Bash League, she was named the player of the tournament while representing Sydney Thunder. She was the second-highest run-scorer with 552 runs and snapped up nine wickets.
Meanwhile, the second edition of the WPL will be staged in Bangalore and Delhi, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had confirmed on Wednesday as they announced the schedule of the upcoming season. While the first half of the season shall be played in Bangalore, the final 11 games including the Eliminator and the final shall be hosted in Delhi.
The new season of the five-team league will kickstart from February 23, with last year’s two finalists – Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals – getting us underway at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
With the top-ranked side at the end of the 20 league stage games getting a pass through to the final, the Eliminator will be played between the second and third placed side to decide the second finalist on March 15, followed by the summit clash on March 17.
The first-season of the WPL was hosted in Mumbai, with all of the games either played at the DY Patil Stadium or the Brabourne Stadium.
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