Chamari Athapaththu to lead Sri Lanka in upcoming ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024
Sep 20, 2024
Colombo [Sri Lanka], September 20 : Left-hand batter Chamari Athapaththu is set to lead the Sri Lanka Women side as the Cricket Board announced a 15-member squad on Thursday for the upcoming ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024.
The squad is largely similar to the one that helped Sri Lanka to their first-ever Women's Asia Cup title win in July this year, with Inoka Ranaweera's inclusion.
Ranaweera last featured for Sri Lanka in T20Is in the Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier 2024 and the left-arm spinner will be suited to the wickets in the UAE as she brings over 12 years of experience to the lineup.
Sri Lanka have had a prolific run over the last 18 months, securing series triumphs over England and South Africa for the first time ever in any format, apart from their historic Asia Cup win. They also had an unbeaten run in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier 2024.
While Athapaththu, Sri Lanka's highest run-getter in the format, will be expected to deliver the goods, recent months have shown that others in the side are more than capable of rendering match-winning performances.
Kavisha Dilhari is one such player, she picked nine wickets at an average of 12.33 in the Asia Cup, making her the second-highest wicket-taker at the event. Among the batters, Vishmi Gunaratne and Harshitha Madhavi are a great support to Athapaththu in the top-order; they smashed tons in the recently concluded tour of Ireland.
The highly-anticipated ninth edition of the tournament will take place across the two venues in the UAE - Dubai and Sharjah - from 3 to 20 October.
All group matches will be completed prior to 15 October, before all eyes shift to the semi-finals scheduled for 17 and 18 October. The winners of semi-final one and two will then face off in the ultimate showdown for the Women's T20 World Cup trophy on 20 October.
Sri Lanka are in Group A of the competition along with Australia, India, New Zealand, and Pakistan and begin their campaign on 3 October, against Pakistan.
