Unchanged Sri Lanka opt to bat first against South Africa as the latter makes three changes to their side.
Unchanged Sri Lanka bat in a bid to clip high-flying South Africa’s wings.
In their opening encounter of the tournament in Colombo, Chamari Athapaththu challenged South Africa to pursue in largely sunny and—most importantly—dry conditions. As Laura Wolvaardt’s team made the necessary adjustments, 18-year-old wicket-keeper batter Karabo Meso was selected to participate in her debut World Cup match for South Africa.
They substituted offspinner Nondumiso Shangase for Anneke Bosch and Tumi Sekhukhune, and Sune Luus, who missed the Bangladesh match due to a hip flexor strain, for Meso, leaving out Sinalo Jafta. With a matchup against Sri Lanka’s left-handers in mind, the last two adjustments were tactical. This meant that Ayabonga Khaka still had no place in the starting lineup, while Annerie Dercksen, who played in her debut tournament game, maintained her position.
Wolvaardt was pleased to field first because South Africa had won their last two games chasing and because dew was predicted later and the surface had been under cover for a lot of the past two days. Athapaththu, however, wanted her squad to highlight their strong suit first after being encouraged by the way they batted against New Zealand, posting 258 for 6 in a washout.
Unaltered, Sri Lanka has two points from two games with no outcomes but has not yet won a tournament match. Third-place South Africa would advance to the semi-finals with a victory here.