Chamari Atapattu drafted into Renegades squad

Chamari Atapattu, the left-hand batter from Sri Lanka, will replace Tammy Beaumont in Melbourne Renegades’ squad for their final league encounter of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) against Sydney Thunder on Sunday (December 1). She will stay on for the knockouts if the team qualify for the same.

Beaumont has been selected for England’s limited overs series against Pakistan in Malaysia beginning on December 9. She is set to join the England squad soon.

Meanwhile, England and Renegades teammate, Danielle Wyatt, will remain in Australia for the game on Sunday. However, should the team qualify for the knockout stage, she too will be unavailable.

Atapattu, who previously played for the Renegades in season three of the WBBL, has a formidable record in Australia, having most recently scored her maiden T20I century in Sydney before closing out the tour with another hundred in the final ODI in Brisbane. She will replace Beaumont who has made some crucial contributions to Renegades’ cause accumulating 277 runs in 13 matches at an average of 23.08.

Having won a thrilling encounter on Saturday (November 30) against Melbourne Stars, Renegades have moved into fourth place on the table and kept themselves in contention for a berth in the final four.

Squad: Chamari Atapattu, Maitlan Brown, Josie Dooley (c), Erica Kershaw, Anna Lanning, Carly Leeson, Courtney Neale, Molly Strano, Lea Tahuhu, Georgia Wareham, Courtney Webb, Danielle Wyatt.