England wary of Sri Lanka challenge in Colombo

As England look to climb to the top of the Cricket World Cup table, they face an eager Sri Lanka who have the ingredients for a tournament upset.

Saturday’s match pitting Sri Lanka with potential table-toppers England is more complicated than the form guide may suggest.

A win away from outright top spot of the eight-team field, England travel to Colombo for the first time at the tournament, though off the back of batting scare against Bangladesh.

The side would have also kept close tabs on rivals Australia limping to 76/7 against Pakistan at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, with the defending champions bailed out by a Beth Mooney batting masterclass.

Few have mastered the Colombo surface, though Sri Lanka, more aware of the ground’s characteristics, are ready to pounce.

Having watched the rain prevent their first tournament match on home soil, Chamari Athapaththu’s are still looking to right the wrongs of their opening day defeat to India in Guwahati.

The Sri Lankans had the upper hand at times in their defeat to India, holding Harmanpreet’s side to 124/6 before a great escape from India’s lower order, who had been let off the hook by multiple chances put down in the field.

Though with their likely make-up, and in their own backyard, Sri Lanka threaten to throw this Cricket World Cup right open, likely with clenched left fists, rather than right.

Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoka Ranaweera and Sugandika Kumari all ready as left-arm options, inspired by Bangladesh who held the English to 103/6 in a chase of 179.

With their bowling arsenal, and enjoying home comforts, Sri Lanka have the potential to surprise, and Tammy Beaumont is well aware of the threat their opponents have.

“I think they're a really well-structured team and certainly a team on the rise. I think they're really well organized,” Beaumont told the press ahead of Saturday’s fixture.

“They obviously know their home conditions playing here in Colombo really well and I think their bowling attack is really well-disciplined and I think particularly when you're playing on spinning wickets, if you can be disciplined, it makes life quite difficult for the opposition.”

“I think the conditions here, obviously it being a lot more spin-friendly, is certainly bringing all the teams together.

“You have to really earn your runs. And I think that means that it's a lot closer together for all the teams.

“Certainly, the standard and depth of every single team has risen in the last four years. And we're certainly probably going to see a few upsets in this World Cup, but hopefully not involving us.”

And it’s not just the lefties with the ball that could cause a ruckus.

With bat in hand, Chamari Athapaththu, Harshitha Samarawickrama and Hasini Perera ask a different question to England’s batting line-up, lacking a left-hander in their ranks as a point of difference.

In the build-up to the match, Beaumont admitted their batters have even faced up in the nets left-handed to give their bowlers an idea of what’s in store.

“I've switched around a couple of times. I've only got a sweep shot left-handed, so you won't be seeing that,” Beaumont chuckled while talking to the press on Friday.

“(Linsey Smith, the only left-hand batter in the squad) is also getting a lot of batting, but obviously she doesn't get to practice against left-handers.

“Obviously they've got a lot of left handers which is not something we're not used, having any left-handed batters in our squad I think makes things a little bit trickier.

“I think you can never write off Chamari at all … She’s played a couple of amazing innings. But I think over the last few years, there's probably a few more that we started to talk about.

“Harshitha Samarawickrama, I think she's done really well and there's certainly a lot more depth to that team that can bat around someone like Chamari, but she'll certainly be the one we'll be desperate to get out and be really well planned for.”

The numbers back the work of a new-age Sri Lanka that has a belief to build.

In the five years before Rumesh Ratnayake’s full-time appointment, Sri Lanka had won just two matches in 21 completed One Day Internationals, both off the back of Chamari Athapaththu centuries.

Since then, the side have won 10 times in 22 matches, qualifying for the ongoing tournament via the ICC Women’s Championship, and beating both India and South Africa in a home triangular series earlier this year.

Ratnayake was quick to deflect the praise of the side’s recent fortunes, insisting on the squad’s mindset to buy into the project, and the base that was set before his arrival.

“If I have to say it in one word, it's the attitude,” Ratnayake said to the press when asked what he’s most proud of in the Sri Lankan unit.

“I think, well it goes along with the attitude, is the discipline in which they have brought in.

“It's easy for you to come and say, ‘Oh this is a good team to do things with’ but they wanted to get to that next level and they were very keen in going to that next level.

“So as a coach, it was an absolute delight."

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We believe England is a very experienced side. Even though they don't have left-handers, they are quite well-equipped. We understand their strengths, we know what they are strong at and we've seen them do it all.

“We believe that we are sort of ready to counter-attack and do the best we can in the best way we can.

“The girls are really up to it in wanting to do well (with the bat).

“And because they know it's a big stage, sometimes we need to sort of bring it down and say, ‘Hang on, it's just another match.’

“But they are excited about this big stage. To capitalize on that, to maximize on that, they need to have runs on the scoreboard. They are aware of that.

“And they are also aware that somebody, or at least one or two should bat until the end.” (ICC)