WINDIES BLOW AWAY SRI LANKA WITH AN ASSERTIVE WIN

ICC 10th WOMEN's WORLD CUP - Match 17 – West Indies v Sri Lanka at Bristol on 21 June 2026

Result – West Indies beat Sri Lanka by 5 wickets
Points – West Indies 2(6), Sri Lanka 0(2)
Toss – West Indies
Umpires – N Janani, Shatira Jhakir, Sue Redfern (TV)
Player of the Match – Hayley Mathews

Match Centre Link - You can view the scorecard, watch highlights and engage more at Match Centre of ICC. The match can be accessed here. 

SRILANKA INNINGS

MAKE HAY WHILE HAYLEY SHINES
In the first match of the Sundays of virtual quarter finals of 10th Womens T20 World Cup, West Indies took on Sri Lanka. West Indies had stirred the group defeating New Zealand and survived a Scotland scare. A win against Sri Lanka would ensure one foot in the semifinals for the 2016 champions. Sri Lanka began with a big loss against inaugural champions England only to stun everyone with a convincing win over defending champions New Zealand. If they could do some champion stuff against former champions West Indies, they would become firm favourites for a semi final spot. West Indies won the toss on what promised to be a cracker of a contest and invited SL to bat.

Sri Lanka opened with Vishmi & Chamari while Hayley opened for the Windies. Vishmi started tentatively and after the openers exchanged a couple of singles, Vishmi tried to push Hayley to the leg side only to edge it back to the bowler. Hayley produced a stunning single hand catch to send Vishmi back to the pavilion. Chinelle opened from the other end and boweld well. Imesha luckily found an outside edge that beat everyone for SL’s first boundary. Hayley returned and beat Chamari for pace in the 3^rd ball and the SL skipper was bowled. Hayley won the battle of skippers. After a couple of dot balls, she forced Harshitha to cut one straight to Jahzara at point. SL were 9/3 in 3 and that was a disastrous start to say the least. Imesha however exuded confidence. She scooped Henry in the 4^th over for a lovely boundary and swept Hayley perfectly in the 5^th over. However with just 2 balls in the powerplay remaining, she tried to go over mid on and handed a catch straight to Jannillea. SL were 23/4 after 6. They had their best batter of tournament, Nilakshika and the lively Kavisha, their best bets for a comeback.

STRIKING AT THE RIGHT TIME
Nilakshika and Kavisha fought back with verve. Nilakshika got her 1^st boundary in the last ball of the 7^th over when the ball slipped away from the fielder at deep square leg for a boundary. SL would take such slips to avoid the match slipping away from them. Kavisha hit a more convincing boundary the next over as she delicately pushed one from Aaliyah past short third. In the next over, she came dancing down and dispatched Afy over cover a wonderful boundary. In the last ball of the same over, Nilakshika swept one fine that just beat deep square leg for a boundary.  Kavisha began the next over with the shot of the match – a wonderful drive of a low full toss boundary of Aaliyaah that ran past covers for a delightful boundary. Just when SL looked back on track as the duo added 34 of 24 and looked well set, Aaliyah who is on a roll in this World Cup stepped in. She bowled a full length delivery and Kavisha drove it straight back to her hand and Aaliyah showed great reflexes in holding on to the catch. SL were 57/5 at half way mark. Even as Kavisha’s wicket was a big setback, SL could find solace as the heroes of last match Nilakshika and Kaushini were together. However Ashmini Munisar on World Cup debut had Kaushini out first ball leg before the wicket and DRS confirmed the downfall for Sri Lanka. Kawya came in at eight and joined Nilakshika in the fight. The duo saw through the next 5 overs and piled up 23 runs almost in singles. Afy turned the match entirely in WI’s favour when she had Nilakshika swept one straight to Deandra at deep square leg in the first ball of 16^th over.

TWO SHORT
Kawya and Sugandika were surviving with singles when Shemaine sent Sugandika back to the pavilion with a smart stumping. In the 2^nd ball of 17^th over bowled by Karishma, the ball hit Sugandika and she lost sight of the ball which was right below her legs. As she tried to steal a single, Shemaine dived forward and hit the stumps before Sugandika came back. Mithali was lucky enough to survive a LBW shot and got the benefit of doubt from the third umpire. Kawya hit the 5^th ball over mid on to bring a boundary after a long time. With 2 overs to go, SL were 7 short of 100 & scoring it and not being bowled out would give them some respite. However Kawya called Mithali for a tricky single and she was caught just short by Shemaine at the batters end. It was Shemaine once again as she swiftly stumped Kawya of Karishma’s classical off break that turned well into the stumps. Sri Lanka were all out for 98 in 19.4 missing 100 by 2 runs & full quota of overs by 2 balls. There was no two thoughts however about West Indies dominating the first innings of the match. Sri Lanka needed something very special to get back into the game.

 WEST INDIES INNINGS

SENDING BACK THE OPENERS
Mithali bowled a beautiful outswinger to open the bowling for Sri Lanka. Windies had two experienced campaigners in Hayley and Deandra. They began with caution and knowing that they were chasing a small target waited for the loose balls. Nimasha gave one in the 2^nd ball of 2^nd over and without second thought, Hayley went on the back foot and carted it over the covers for WI’s first boundary. Sugandika Kumari’s 4^th over was the boon WI were waiting for. She started with a wide, conceded a boundary to Hayley, bowled another wide, conceded another boundary to Hayley and bowled another wide. The 15 run over helped WI take the edge. However WI lost their first wicket in the first ball of the 5^th over. Mithali’s ball was worked away to mid on by Hayley. She thought about the run for a second but Deandra had already started running. Before Hayley could make it, Nilakshika’s direct hit from mid on gave SL a small flicker of hope. Shemaine joined Deandra as WI now had a experience of 300+ T20Is in the batting crease. Deandra found a boundary in the 2^nd ball of the 6^th over but the World Boss wasn’t bossing around. She gifted SL a wicket and lot of hope when she lazily flicked the last ball of power play bowled by Nimisha to the hands of Sugandika. WI were 36/2 after 6. Sending back the openers just before the powerplay seemed to have opened up the outside chances for SL.

KEEPING COOL AMIDST DRAMA
Post powerplay, Kawya began well. She had Shemaine edging one just an iota away from the diving keeper. She began well with Stafanie before she conceded a no ball and wide. Stafanie hammered the free hit over the cow corner for the first sixer of the match. Kavisha had Shemaine in some trouble in the 8^th over before Chamari ended Shemaine’s stay in the 3^rd ball of the 9^th over. She strayed one the leg side and Shemaine induced a very faint edge confirmed by the DRS. Chamari could have had another wicket in the same over but Sugandika dropped a sitter at short third. Jahzara was lucky in the next over when she swept one to short fine leg where Mithali missed the catch by a whisker. However WI were 63/3 after 10 overs. While Shemaine & Jahzara looked tentative, Stafanie had no problems finding a single every ball. Windies just needed 36 more, a reversal of their current score. Sri Lanka however needed a reversal of fortunes. Chamari began the 11^th over with a full toss on the leg and Stafanie, her compatriot in playing 10 World Cups converted it into a boundary. Kavisha’s 12^th over brought SL back into the game and how. She bowled a full length ball little wide to Jahzara who cut it low, only to find an agile In the next ball, she had Henry missing the ball while cutting it square and had her stumps disturbed. The over was mercurial and except for a wide and 4 byes, WI looked a bit lost. This buoyed SL but Stafanie kept her cool and found ones and twos. Janniella wasn’t quite settled but was gifted a couple of wides and byes to keep her end going. Sugandika and Chamari stopped the boundaries and extras but Stafanie and Janniella had no problems taking 3 singles an over. Kavisha came back to close her quota and finally bowled one full toss which was slammed over her head for a boundary by Janiella. At end of 16^th over, score were tied and WI needed just a run. Stafanie played her lone loose shot as she nudged one to the leg side without force or timing. Trust SL to drop the catch at mid on and WI already completed the run and a quite dominant win.

After a cautious start by Hayley, Stafanie’s experience once again saw them through. However the overall batting of WI left a lot to be desired. If the WI bat a chance to lift the WI after a decade, they need to ensure no further decay in their batting

Images Courtesy – ESPN Cricinfo.