Sri Lanka Women cricketers in groundbreaking tour of Pakistan

 Rival skippers Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka) and Bismah Maroof (Pakistan)

• “If we play to our potential, we can win the series”: Head coach Tillakaratne

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka Women cricketers will be breaking new ground when they leave for Pakistan today for a six-match white ball series comprising three T20Is and three ODIs.

In the 24 years that Sri Lanka has played Pakistan in ODIs and later in T20Is they have never made a bilateral tour to that country, so this one will be of historic significance. The only occasion that Sri Lanka toured Pakistan was way back in 2006 for the Asia Cup tournament of which they ended runner-up to India. Pakistan also hosted Sri Lanka for an ODI series in Sharjah in 2015 when international teams were reluctant to tour Pakistan following the terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka men’s team bus in 2009.

The ODI series will be the start of the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-2025 to gain qualification to the 2025 Women’s World Cup for both teams. Sri Lanka finished eighth and last in the first two editions of the ICC Women’s Championships held from 2014-16 and 2017-20 and commence the third edition 2022-25 with the hope of improving on their past performances. 

Pakistan in the meanwhile has shown improvement in their performances rising from seventh position in the first edition to fifth in the second. The progression of their cricket is signified by the fact that they have won the last three ODI series against Sri Lanka in 2011 (1-0), 2015 (3-0) and 2018 (3-0).

“The preparations for this tour have been really good, the girls are well prepared and ready to face the challenge,” said head coach Hashan Tillakaratne. “We played a few 50-over practice matches with the under 15 boys’ side and the girls performed very well. We also played a few T20 matches amongst the girls. The confidence level is very high and if they play to their potential, we can win the series.”

“As a team the girls are very confident. They want to prove a point to the world. They couldn’t play in the 2022 World Cup (because of COVID-19). After we qualified ourselves for the Commonwealth Games, the spirit and the confidence level was very high.” Tillakaratne said the strength of the side was their batting and their spin department.  

“We have about five spinners – three left-armers (Inoka Ranaweera, Sugandika Kumari and Sachini Nisansala) and two off-spinners (Oshadi Ranasinghe and Kaveesha Dilhari). We have concentrated on taking wickets in the middle overs and on containment. In the batting we are trying to bring the number of dot balls down to 130 in 50 overs and to 45 in T20. That is my major concern and we have been working towards that.”

Tillakaratne agreed the key to Sri Lanka’s success in the series lay heavily on the shoulders of their captain of international repute Chamari Athapaththu. “Everyone respects her, and she also shares her experience with the rest of the team which is a real bonus. She wants to share her thoughts of playing franchise cricket around the world which has also improved her cricket. Chamari being in the side is a great asset for us. Even in the World Cup qualifiers and the Commonwealth Games qualifiers she was our main batter. We hope that she will continue in the same form,” said Tillakaratne.

“Pakistan will target her because we all know how destructive she can be. Taking her wicket early in the innings will dent our batting line up. If she can bat for about 10-15 overs, she can change the course of the match. She is a real crowd puller. She knows her strengths and her weaknesses, and she is a very knowledgeable cricketer who knows her game.”

“There are a few girls like Harshitha Samarawickrama, Hasini Perera, Nilakshi de Silva and Kavisha Dilhari coming through which is another bonus for us. If they perform equally well it will take some of the pressure off Chamari.”

Chamari is coming for the tour fresh from a successful batting stint with Falcons in the Fairbreak Invitational Women’s T20 tournament in Dubai where she was the leading run scorer with 313 runs at an average of 52.16 with one century and one fifty and a strike rate of 139.11.

Pakistan have confirmed that experienced skipper Bismah Maroof will continue on as white-ball captain for the 2022-23 season. Bismah has been in charge of Pakistan’s T20 team since 2016 and ODI side since 2017 and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have confirmed that the 30-year-old will continue her tenure. Bismah, who led Pakistan in the World Cup 2022 on her return from maternity break, expressed her happiness about starting the ICC Championship at home.

“It is a great privilege for us to play the ICC Women’s Championship on our home soil and the side is very excited to welcome Sri Lanka. This edition provides us an opportunity to start fresh and make the most of the home advantage,” Bismah said. “I am sure the team will perform to their fullest potential and the Pakistan cricket fans, who have extended us great support, will get to see better and consistent results.”

Sri Lanka Women’s Team to Pakistan

Chamari Athapaththu (Captain), Harshitha Samarawickrama (Vice-Captain), Hasini Perera, Imesha Dulani, Prasadani Weerakkody, Nilakshi de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Ama Kanchana, Achini Kulasuriya, Inoka Ranaweera, Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandika Kumari, Sachini Nisansala, Oshadhi Ranasinghe, Anushka Sanjeewani.

Standbys: Kawya Kavindi, Rashmi de Silva, Sathya Sandeepani, Malsha Shehani, Tharika Sewwandi.

Match schedule

First T20I – 24 May

Second T20I – 26 May

Third T20I – 28 May

First ODI –1 June

Second ODI –3 June

Third ODI –5 June

* All matches will be played at the Southend Club in Karachi.

** T20Is will start at 2 p.m (Pakistan local time), ODIs at 9:30 p.m.