The R. Premadasa Stadium here has been a panacea for the overdosing-on-runs high that ODI cricket has found itself in, with weather-dictated slow burners in the Women’s ODI World Cup.
Technically adept sides like Australia and India have found the going tough with strips covered to guard against the rain making an already spin-favouring surface lower and slower.
England — with two wins in two games in the tournament — will not take Sri Lanka, despite all its coherence problems, lightly, as the sides clash in a Women’s ODI World Cup fixture here on Saturday.
In 20 meetings in the format, two matches didn’t yield a result, and Sri Lanka stunned England only once, in the 2013 World Cup in India — a one-wicket triumph that Chamari Athapaththu’s side will do well to revisit in a tournament packed with comebacks.
England opener Tammy Beaumont was candid about the dearth of left-handers in the batting order, with only Linsey Smith representing the southpaws and therefore being given extra help with technique in the nets.
But what England will be wary about is Sri Lanka’s left-arm bowlers, who have a dangerous ability to drop pace on the ball, making batting on surfaces like these even harder. In the nets, the side trained with young boys, potentially from the under-14 academy, to simulate the action and pace of some of Sri Lanka’s mainstays.
With its ‘home’ World Cup fixture against Australia washed out a few days ago, Sri Lanka will be raring to go as it seeks its first win in the tournament.
The side had an extended fielding session, working on high catches against the floodlights and their reaction times inside the circle.
Coach Rumesh Ratnayake revealed ahead of the fixture that there was palpable excitement among the team. A short spell spent cuddling the resident dogs at the venue ahead of their training block was a visible blessing in disguise.
Published – October 11, 2025 05:15 am IST
