India, Oct. 11 -- Sri Lanka women's team skipper, Chamari Athapaththu, turned Colombo into a plot twist factory against England on Saturday evening. Carried off on a stretcher during the sixth over of a 254-run chase, she returned to bat when the team lost its third wicket for 98 runs.

Earlier, Nat Sciver-Brunt's master 117 had hauled England to 253/9, laying a scoreboard pressure that only intensified when Sri Lanka lost their skipper at the beginning of the chase. But the re-entry of Athapathtu was symbolic of the fighting spirit the cricketer has in her. The live commentary clarified that it was a cramp that resulted in the previous withdrawal. It was a pure theater, a captain's gamble that echoed Rishabh Pant's Old Trafford heroics i...