Sri Lanka leave for Zimbabwe today; confident of qualifying

Women’s Head Coach Hashan Tillakaratne

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Women’s cricket Captain Chamari Atapattu

Women’s cricket Vice Captain Harshitha Madavi

Having played more than 20 one-day, intra-squad, 50-over matches in the past three months in preparation for the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, Head Coach Hashan Tillakaratne is confident that his team can qualify for the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 in New Zealand from 4 March to 3 April.

To qualify, Sri Lanka women’s team, who are grouped with the Netherlands, West Indies and Ireland in Group A, must finish within the first three to get to the Super Six stage, where they meet the top three teams that qualify from Group B in a round-robin league. The first three teams of the Super Six will be joining the five teams who have already qualified through the ICC Women’s Championship – Australia, England, India, South Africa and hosts New Zealand. Ten teams, five in each group, were to contest in the qualifiers but Papua New Guinea were forced to pull out due to several players testing positive for COVID-19. Thus, Group A will have only four teams. Group B comprises Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Zimbabwe and USA.

Sri Lanka Women will have their first real test when they play Bangladesh Women in a warm-up match at Harare on 19 November. Bangladesh Women are already in Harare playing a three-match ODI series against the host country and will be well-equipped with the conditions and pitches that other qualifying countries will come up against.

Sri Lanka’s Group A WC qualifying matches are 23 November, v. Netherlands; 27 November, v. West Indies; and 29 November, v. Ireland. 

“Last week, we played two practice games in Hambantota where Harshitha Madavi scored hundreds in both matches and Hasini (Perera) also got a hundred in the first game. The batters are performing, we have improved our bowling a lot, especially the spinners. They know their game and their fields and how to set it up. Fielding, we are a little below par but we are working on it. In time to come, they will identify their mistakes and come good. The way they are playing I believe we can qualify,” said Tillakaratne, for whom this will be the first major assignment since taking over the role in June this year.

“The girls have identified their own game and they are banking on their individual performances and skill. They have started to believe in themselves that they can compete with the top sides and also come to understand the game and crucial points which are very vital to winning games. Skill alone won’t win games, you have to improve your knowledge. All the support staff should be thanked because they have worked very hard towards improving these girls.”

Sizing up the opponents, Tillakaratne said: “They are tough opponents, you cannot take them lightly. West Indies are a good side and Ireland and Netherlands are not bad but very competitive. We need to play our best cricket to beat these three sides.”

When it was pointed out that Sri Lanka has not played an ODI match since October 2019, Tillakaratne stated: “In spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has given us all the facilities. We have played more than 20 intra-squad one-day matches in the last three months. In the last few games, we played against U17 boys sides. We can’t give any excuses because now the girls are improving and they have learnt their game. It’s a matter of time that they get together and show some improvement on the field.”

Tillakaratne said Sri Lanka Women’s skipper Chamari Atapattu’s contribution to the team was vital for their success. 

“She is the most experienced player, she knows the game very well and she is respected by all the other teams,” said Tillakaratne. “She has already proved herself and made big runs. Chamari joining us is a great booster for our girls. She is a good leader. She has played with so many experienced players and shared dressing rooms with them, her experience is vital because she is a girl who shares her experiences amongst the rest of the players.”

“Chamari is a well-known player in the circuit so opponents will try to target her, they will want to get her wicket as early as possible. But there are some players coming up and we need to keep an eye on them as well.”

Tillakaratne revealed the top six batters – Hasini Perera, vice-captain Harshitha Madavi, Imesha Dulani, Nilakshi de Silva, Vishmi Gunaratne, the youngest centurion in Sri Lanka domestic cricket at 15, and Prasadini Weerakkody – have been performing well and been consistent in the last two to three months and he expected contributions from them.

Sri Lanka Women WC Qualified Squad: Chamari Atapattu (Captain), Harshitha Madavi (Vice-Captain), Inoka Ranaweera, Nilakshi de Silva, Hasini Perera, Sugandika Kumari, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Ama Kanchana, Udeshika Probodhani, Achini Kulasuriya, Anushka Sanjeewani, Kavisha Dilhari, Tharika Sewwandi, Prasadini Weerakkody, Imesha Dulani, Vishmi Rajapaksha, Sachini Nisansala.