Sri Lanka’s women’s cricketers leave for Malaysia today facing an uphill task of qualifying for the Commonwealth Games as five teams compete for one slot.
They will play against Scotland, Kenya, Malaysia and Bangladesh as the five teams battle for a solitary qualifying slot ahead of the Commonwealth Games to be held in Birmingham, England in July-August.
The matches are in the T20 format and will be played from January 18 to 24.
“We have to finish on top and it is a very big challenge. But we have the confidence and are prepared for the challenge,” said skipper Chamari Atapattu whose team missed qualifying for the World Cup late last year in Zimbabwe as six players were struck down with Covid 19.
Atapattu said they trained and prepared in the physical absence of coach Hashan Tillekaratne who was serving a quarantine period but communicated with them over the phone and through video zoom meetings.
Batting coach Lanka de Silva did most of the on-field work in the absence of Tillekaratne.
The team has made one change with Imesha Dulani replaced by Anushka Sanjeewani and brought in an additional player in Tharika Sewwandi to increase the squad strength to 16.
Atapattu said Bangladesh and Scotland will be tough teams to overcome but they are not taking any team lightly.
Sri Lankan squad: Chamari Atapattu (captain), Harshitha Madavi (vice captain), Hasini Perera, Hasini Perera, Nilakshika Silva, Anushka Sanjeevani, Kavisha Dilhari, Ama Kanchana, Sachini Nisansala, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoka Ranaweera,.Vishmi Rajapakse, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Sugandika Kumari, Tharika Sewwandi .Prasadini Weerkkody, Achini Kulasuriya
Stand-by players: Madhushika Meththananda, Kawya Kavindi, Imesha Dulani, Sathya Sandeepani