Big picture: Can Sri Lanka record the big win they need to have a chance of qualifying?
In any case, this is both Sri Lanka and Pakistan’s opportunity to finish a campaign strongly. Pakistan are winless as yet in this competition, though rain denied them a near-certain victory over England. Sri Lanka batted poorly in the match against Bangladesh, but were bailed out by their captain in the final over. They will, if nothing else, want to put a stronger stamp on this tournament, which they have essentially co-hosted.
The problem areas for both teams overlap. Pakistan are over-reliant on Sidra Amin with the bat, and have tended to crumble around her. Sri Lanka are not quite as reliant on Chamari Athapaththu as they used to be, but they are yet to put in a dominant batting performance so far. Hasini Perera hit her first international fifty against Bangladesh, but the likes of Vishmi Gunaratne, Harshitha Samarawickrama and Kavisha Dilhari will have hoped to have had better tournaments.
Form guide
Sri Lanka WLLLL (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
Pakistan Llllw
In the spotlight: Chamari Athapaththu and Sidra Amin
Team news
Pakistan might search for ways to strengthen their batting order. Could Eyman Fatima or Sadaf Shamas make it back into the XI as they search for better combinations?
Pakistan (possibly): 1 Omaima Sohail, 2 Muneeba Alli, 3 Sedra Amin, 4 Aliya Rias, 5 Natalia Pervis, Sedra Nawaz (wk), 7 Fatima Sana (capt), 8 Eyman Fatima/Rameen Shamim, 9 Diana Big, 10 Nashra Sandhu, 10 Sadia Isbal.
Sri Lanka will likely keep their XI from the win over Bangladesh. Seamer Malki Madara was economical in that match, and will likely keep her spot.
Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Vishmi Gunaratne, 2 Chamari Athapaththu (capt), 3 Hasini Perera, 4 Harshitha Samarawickrama, 5 Kavisha Dilhari, 6 Nilakshika Silva, 7 Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), 8 Sugandika Kumari, 9 Malki Madara, 10, Inoka Ranaweera, 11 Udeshika Prabodhani.
Pitch and conditions: Can the rain stop, please?
The northeast monsoon shows no signs of easing in Colombo. Expect there to be swing and seam, owing to the rain around. There will also likely be significant turn, so long as the balls aren’t too wet. This is all presuming the rain will allow any cricket to be played at all.
Stats and trivia
- In 19 World Cup innings, Athapaththu averages 37.61 – just slightly better than her overall stats. Her World Cup bowling average of 30.00 is substantially better than her overall average of 40.12.
- Sidra Amin tops Pakistan’s run-scorers’ chart this year, with 656 ODI runs at 59.63. Their next-highest run-getter, Muneeba Ali, has hit 402 at 30.92.
- In 33 ODIs between the two sides, Pakistan have won 11 and Sri Lanka 22.
Quotes
“We’ve seen how the games have tended to go here. There’s been help for the pacers as well. We’ve studied the wicket carefully and are preparing to adjust our game according to the conditions. There’s quite a bit of swing for the fast bowlers, and for the spinners, there’s also good turn.”
Sri Lanka batter Harshitha Samarawickrama on conditions at Khettarama at the moment
“I’ve learned quite a lot. This was a huge event – the World Cup – and unfortunately, we couldn’t perform as well as we wanted to. But there’s so much we’ve learned from it, and we’ll go back home and work hard on those areas. It’s been quite difficult because many of our matches were affected by rain.”
Pakistan spins Sadia Iqbal on Pakistan’s takeaways from a rainy Colombo campaign
Andrew Fidel Fernando is a senior writer at ESPNcricinfo. @afidelf
