Sri Lanka Bowl First in Rain-Hit Clash as Pakistan Chase First Win

The heavy rains had pushed the start back by almost 3 hours, and both teams were left with a truncated 34-over match to finish their World Cup campaigns.

This is the last game in the tournament for both sides. Pakistan are yet to secure their first victory, and Sri Lanka would like to have a good send-off before they go home.

The power play has seven overs. One bowler is allowed to bowl a maximum of seven overs, although four bowlers are allowed to bowl six overs.

In what can be said to be her last match of the World Cup, Chamari Athapaththu expressed her trust in her bowlers. She said that chasing could be easier, particularly if DLS was likely to be used again.

Fatima Sana, the captain of the Pakistan team, had another opinion. She said the pitch was good to bat and could allow her batters to find a rhythm, which they had lacked during the tournament.

One change was made in Sri Lanka, where spin-all-rounder Dewmi Vihanga was brought in to replace Udeshika Prabodhani. Pakistan replaced Sidra Nawaz and Diana Baig with Eyman Fatima and Syeda Aroob Shah.

The boundaries have been reduced due to wet outfield patches. The square boundaries are now 60 and 56 metres. More rain is expected later, which could again disrupt play.

Sri Lanka XI: 

Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu (capt), Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshika Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Sugandika Kumari, Dewmi Vihanga, Malki Madara, Inoka Ranaweera.

Pakistan XI: 

Omaima Sohail, Muneeba Ali (wk), Sidra Amin, Aliya Riaz, Natalia Pervaiz, Fatima Sana (capt), Eyman Fatima, Rameen Shamim, Syeda Aroob Shah, Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal.

Both teams may be out of the tournament, but pride and momentum are still on the line in this rain-affected Colombo showdown.