Bolton had stitched together partnerships of 48 and 72 with Elyse Vilani and captain Meg Lanning respectively. Vilani chipped in with 22 off 31, including two fours and a six before she was trapped lbw by medium-pacer Chamari Atapattu.

Lanning ensured the innings didn’t lose momentum with a brisk 43 off 44 balls, before she too was dismissed by Atapattu. Bolton and Perry then capitalised on 23.4 wicketless overs. Bolton was dismissed with four deliveries remaining in the innings, and had cracked eight fours and a six.

Sri Lanka used seven bowlers but apart from Atapattu, only one of them – Ama Kanchana, the right-arm pacer – was among the wickets. Kanchana accounted for Bolton, but leaked 52 runs in eight overs.

In the chase, Sri Lanka were shot out for 131 in 45.5 overs, primarily through the efforts of legspinner Kirsten Beams, and right-arm pacers Rene and Holly Ferling, who shared the wickets to secure a 137-run win.

Only three Sri Lanka batsmen registered double figures. Hasini Perera was caught early off Ferling for 2 at the end of the third over. Wicketkepper Prasadani Weerakkody and captain Atapattu rebuilt with a 63-run second-wicket stand. Beams broke the partnership by trapping Atapattu in front, before she dismissed Weerakkody a few overs later. When Weerakkody fell for 33, the highest score of the innings, Sri Lanka were 87 for 3. Thereafter, only Chamari Polgampola got to double figures, consuming 60 deliveries for her 19.

Beams returned 4 for 26, while Ferling, who opened the bowling, took 3 for 30 in 7.5 overs. Farrell finished with career-best figures of 3 for 17 in eight overs.

Those words were expressed by Sri Lanka women’s captain Chamari Attapattu during the launch of the series at the JAIC Hilton yesterday. This will be a historic event as the two countries are playing a bilateral women’s series for the first time.

The Aussie lasses will participate in a practice match tomorrow at the R. Premadasa International Stadium before they leave for Dambulla to commence the four-match ODI series on September 18. They will play their final match in Colombo on September 28.

Aussie skipper Megan Lanning thanked Sri Lanka Cricket for inviting them and said that they are eagerly looking forward for a challenging tour.

“We know that we will have a tough time here with the conditions, but hopefully we will give a good performance. This is a good test for us to see how we can adjust to these conditions,” said the Aussie captain.

When asked what is the secret of their success in being ranked number one, Megan said that they have practiced hard with great commitment and have been rewarded with continuous success throughout.

Chamari went on to say that this is a very important series for them in preparation for the ICC 2017 Women’s World Cup.

“We are sorry that our captain Shashikala (Siriwardena) is out of this series due to a back injury, but we have a good team consisting of experience and talent. We have selected very talented players as new caps. Although they lack experience if they perform to their potential, we can still pose a big challenge to the Aussies,” said Chamari.

“The Australian players are physically stronger than us and they can go for big hits whenever needed, but we are confident that our spinners will try and keep them under the 200-run mark as much as possible,” she said.

SLC secretary Mohan de Silva said that they have invested in women’s cricket a lot in recent times and hope to extend the support to popularize the sport throughout the country.

“SLC has launched a program to develop women’s cricket, especially in schools and we are going to introduce ‘Big’ matches among girls’ schools in order to pick hidden talent,” said De Silva. “I hope our women’s national team will reap the maximum benefit from this tour and wish both teams good luck.”

Australian coach Mott Matthew expressed his gratitude to SLC and said they have trained a lot to face these tough conditions and hoped to have a great series.

“We are very impressed by the passion of Sri Lankan cricket fans and hope to enjoy a memorable time here with Sri Lankan hospitality,” Mott stated.

Squads:

Sri Lanka: Chamari Atapattu (captain), Prasadini Weerakkody (vice-captain), Dilani Manodara, Nipuni Hansika, Chamari Polgampola, Eshani Lokusooriya, Udeshika Prabodini, Inoka Ranaweera, Sugandika Kumari, Achini Kulasooriya, Inoshi Fernando, Imalka Mendis, Ama Kanchana, Harshitha Madhavi.

Australia: Meg Lanning (captain), Alex Blackwell (vice-captain), Kristen Beams, Nicole Bolton, Rene Farrell, Holly Ferling, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Beth Mooney, Erin Osborne, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Elyse Villani.

Fixtures:

Sep 15: Warm-up match

at R Premadasa Stadium

Sep 18: 1st ODI at Dambulla

Sep 20: 2nd ODI at Dambulla

Sep 23: 3rd ODI at R Premadasa Stadium

Sep 25: 4th ODI at R Premadasa Stadium

Sep 27: One-off T20I at SSC

Sep 28: Departure