From her sauntering to the wicket to her first shot off the mark, the casual, relaxed uncanny characteristic that she brings to her batting is what has set apart Harshitha Madhavi Samarawickrama to becoming the center piece ‘Miss Reliable’ to changing the fortunes of the Sri Lanka Women’s Cricket Team to rubbing shoulders with the might of the heavyweights in the international arena.
A truly classic example to her men’s team colleagues in the art of temperament to building an innings, by 2nd large, a fairytale career that took off as a 15-year old tom boy playing backyard cricket with her brother to influencing her to launching to school cricket at Gothami Vidyalaya, reached its culminating payoff to straddling world cricket as one of it’s top batters when the 26-year old left hander reeled off two match winning cornerstone half centuries versus South Africa and high riding India in the ongoing Women’s Tri Series in Sri Lanka
Indeed, the medium built lass has influenced big show women’s cricket as by and large one of the leading compact batters in the left hand mould of grace and technique showcased by an array of strokes, her most choice shot an eye catching cover drive snd sweeping on her knees.
The cover drive is a strong arm of a repertoire she evolved aping her childhood hero Kumar Sangakkara.
Significantly, Samarawickrama has impacted Sri Lanka’s two triumphs to a step away from the May 11 finals of the Tri Series, a forerunner to this year’s ICC Women’s ODI, by two forceful knocks of 77 versus South Africa and 53 that was cornerstone to bringing down favourites India from a pedestal of eight triumphs on the trot.
That she has emerged the torchbearer of the young brigade of Sri Lankan Women’s Cricket from a dream international debut as a 17-year old in 2016, who caught the eye from the Under 19 periphery in a career that found permanency in 2019, is certainly a fairytale rollercoaster early saga enriched by an ODI run aggregate of 1016 runs from 39 matches and 33 innings hitting the century groove of 105 against Ireland with a 30.78 average and strike rate of 69.16. Her T20 international tally of 1527 runs with highest of unbeaten 86 from 72 outings and 67 innings averaging 28.81 with 97.26 strike rate is as industrious in cementing Sri Lanka’s name in world cricket for a nation that had found its feet from small beginnings.
If the skipper of the side Chamari Athapaththu has been the driving force behind Sri Lanka women’s cricket to coming to its own in the modern age, the advent of Samarawickrama, fully blossomed force to take it forward is indeed a tall cricket story still in early bloom.
