By Srian Obeyesekere

In a virtual clash of the frantic of the two outsiders in Sri Lanka and New Zealand today in Colombo in a hotted up semi final race for the last two places with table leaders Australia right up up in a solid unbeaten impregnable show of its title defence followed by closest rivals India in a gigantic leash above the rest best demonstrated by an over 300 blockbuster show of strength by Alyssa Healy’s captain on the job 140 century brilliance, it boils down to a more or less formality going through the motions of two groping sides which does see Sophie Devine’s lasses having the upper hand on a better record from that defeatist bite with the Kiwi skipper having taken a century off the Aussies and an 85 in a comparative superiority over a badly found wanting colourless Lankan batting outfit in this 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup that gets underway at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium at 3 p.m.

The face off that puts Chanari Athapaththu’s team ahead of the New Zealanders on paper strength of a 2-1 home series triumph in 2023, thus makes the scales even in so much that the Kiwis win against Bangladesh going by a better batting show though Devine’s team does have the edge going on current form.

Sri Lanka has a win record of 67 ODIs to 124 losses from 200 games with 9 no results with upsetting England at the 2013 world cup a high point.
New Zealand will be a challenge for a thus far bruised Lankan batters to show up against a formidable Kiwi attack.

By and large, a faltering Lankan batting outfit with none in the 50 bracket in the tournament which has been a big let down to their world cup hopes exposed by failure to back the bowlers who scared India and England, has been a bugging factor to the side’s disappointing seventh place winless run, but for the shared one point from the rain abandoned game against Australia.