Women’s World Cup: Sri Lanka opt to bowl against Pakistan in rain-hit 34 overs each side clash

Colombo, Oct 24 (IANS) Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field first against Pakistan in the rain-hit 25th match of the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup, at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday.

Under the revised playing conditions, the Sri Lanka–Pakistan Women’s World Cup clash will be a 34-over-per-side contest with a 20-minute innings break. Four bowlers will be allowed to bowl a maximum of seven overs each, while one bowler can deliver up to six overs.

Pakistan have made two changes for the clash, with Eyman Fatima and Syeda Aroob Shah coming in for Sidra Nawaz and Diana Baig. Sri Lanka have made one change, as Dewmi Vihanga replaces Udeshika Prabodhani in the playing XI.

Sri Lanka women’s captain Chamari Athapaththu said, “We are going to bowl first. I am pretty confident in my bowling unit, and the conditions are not good for batters because of the rain in the last 2 to 3 days. So, that’s why we decided to bowl first.

“We have made one change. Dewmi Vihanga is back in the side for Udeshika Prabodani.

Asked about winning the previous game, Athapaththu said: “Yeah, definitely. Actually, we didn’t play our best cricket in our previous game, but we were lucky enough to win that in the last over. But we have to execute our plans in the right areas, and I hope we play our best cricket today.”

“We are playing on our home soil and also in front of our home fans. So, we want to play our best cricket and finish the tournament on a high.”

Pakistan women’s captain Fatima Sana said, “I think this pitch looks good for every batter. We will try to put a good total, like 180 or 200, and it will be good.

“I think in the batting order, we try to build partnerships. We will try to bat long. The short format suits us. We will try to put a good total. It’s very important to win the game. It’s important to play good cricket and win the tournament.

“We have two changes. Sidra Nawaz is outside, and Diana is also out. Eyman and one I forgot are in the team.”

Playing XIs:

Pakistan: Omaima Sohail, Muneeba Ali (wk), Sidra Ameen, Aliya Riaz, Natalia Pervaiz, Fatima Sana (c), Eyman Fatima, Rameen Shamim, Syeda Aroob Shah, Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal

Sri Lanka: Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu (c), Hasini Perera, Harshitha Madavi Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Dewmi Vihanga, Sugandika Kumari, Malki Madara, Inoka Ranaweera

–IANS

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