Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu said she felt she had “failed as captain” after Bristol’s defeat to the West Indies, which left them fifth in the six-team second group and facing the daunting task of reaching the semi-finals of the Women’s T20 World Cup.Athapaththu scored just two runs as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 98 runs. West Indies chased the target with 5 wickets and 23 balls to spare. Sri Lanka’s chances of advancement became difficult after they won just one of their three games while England and West Indies won all three.Sri Lanka also hurt their chances with wickets, bad catches and fielding errors. The 23 extra balls they conceded was the second-highest total conceded by West Indies.“Actually, it’s an indescribable sadness,” Atapattu, who is playing in his 10th T20 World Cup, said after the defeat. “I think I was in the national team for about 18 years but I never got the chance to lead my team to the World Cup semi-finals.”“Despite all my personal achievements, I think I failed as captain because I think it was a huge pain for the players. In fact, now I have to live with that pain.”“I think I tried my best and I think I should have played more responsibly than that and if I had played more responsibly today, we could have won this match today. So, I regret that. Especially I don’t like to blame anyone and I think as a player, as the captain of the team and as a more experienced player, I have more responsibility,” an emotional Attapasu said after the loss to West Indies.“So, I’m sad and I feel like I’ve lost my last chance.”Athapaththu is 36 years old and has played in every Women’s T20 World Cup so far. The next tournament is scheduled to be held in Pakistan in 2028. Asked if she thought she would play that game, she said: “At the moment, I can’t give any explanation for it because at my age, I’m 36 now.”“So, regarding physical fitness and everything else, everything has been decided. So, I try my best to keep my physical fitness at a good level and keep my skills at a high level.“I will play in the future if the team wants to, but it will be decided based on my performance level and fitness level whether I play or not.”Sri Lanka’s remaining Group 2 matches are against Ireland in Bristol on June 23 and Scotland in Manchester on June 26.
