Sri Lanka face daunting task against England bowlers

Inoka Ranaweera

Sri Lanka will face a daunting task to beat England in their Women’s Cricket World Cup match at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo today as the tournament was thrown open on Thursday when South Africa caused a shock result by beating India in pursuit of a 252 target.

Sri Lanka is currently in the sixth sloth in the points table after losing to India and then gaining one point after their match against Australia was washed out by rain last Saturday at the same venue.

A defeat for Sri Lanka today could push the team further down in the points table with only the top four teams qualifying for the semifinals.

Sri Lanka also has matches against South Africa, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Pakistan, all at the Premadasa Stadium.

Where Sri Lanka tends to fall back is in the absence of a team effort with only skipper Chamari Atapattu standing out as the one player capable to playing a match winning innings while the bowling has nothing collective to go by with Inoka Ranaweera who took four wickets against India being the one player capable of turning the tide in favour of Sri Lanka. England move into today’s match after beating Bangladesh at their last outing. They possess a good all-round side but are no strangers playing against Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s biggest challenge will be in facing up to England’s two slow left arm bowlers in Sophie Ecclestone and Linsey Smith.

Linsey Smith