Opportunity for both sides to move up the ladder
Sri Lanka and West Indies will aim to boost their standings when they go head to head in round three of the ICC Women’s Championship, which starts in Colombo on Wednesday.
The series includes four ODIs but only the final three matches scheduled for 15, 18 and 20 May will count towards the eight-team ICC Women’s Championship. The top four sides from this tournament will qualify automatically for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, while the bottom four sides will play in the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier.
The West Indies is currently sitting fifth on the table while Sri Lanka is seventh. A 3-0 series victory for the visitors would see it join early pace-setters Australia at the top of the table.
Sri Lanka, in contrast, would create daylight between itself and India at the bottom end of the table if it wins the series. A series whitewash would see it move into third position on the league table, while a 2-1 victory for the hosts would see it climb two places to join England on seven points.
Looking ahead to the three-match ODI series, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Atapaththu said: “We are excited to play West Indies in our home town and the team is looking forward to the start of the series.
“The ICC Women’s Championship is already proving to be a good initiative for the women’s game and the structure will see each team compete each other in a home and away series which is very important to all teams and will guarantee at least 21 ODI games for each team. This is very important to develop the game and its standards around the world.
“Every ODI series that we play is very important to us and this will naturally create awareness and interest across the women’s game.”
West Indies captain Merissa Aguilleira added: “The team arrived in Sri Lanka a few days ago and had a successful training camp ahead of the start of the series which gave us an opportunity to get acclimatised to the Sri Lankan conditions.
“It is more humid than we are accustomed to but we have adjusted very quickly. The girls are coming off the domestic season in the West Indies and are ready and rearing to go. Although we have some of our experienced players absent due to injury, the players who have replaced them have all been in the team before and have fit very easily into the set up.
“We are determined to do well here because, coming out of our series loss in Australia, it is very important for us to gain points in this series to continue to compete for a top spot in the ICC Women’s Championship rankings.”
The West Indies will once again be pinning its hopes on Stafanie Taylor, the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2012. The 23-year-old Jamaican will be the highest-ranked batter, bowler and all-rounder from either side in the series.
Taylor is ranked sixth in the Reliance ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings for Batters, while she tops the Reliance ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings for Bowlersas well asReliance ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings for All-rounders.
Deandra Dottin is the other West Indies batter inside the top 10 in eighth position while Sri Lanka’s Chamari Jayangani shares ninth spot with Australia’s Jessica Cameron. Apart from Taylor, bowlers inside the top 20 to feature in the series include Anisa Mohammed (fourth) and Shanel Daley (sixth).
Squads
Sri Lanka (from):Chamari Athapaththu (captain), Chathurani Gunewardena, Ama Kanchana, Sugandhika Kumari, Eshani Lokusuriya, Lasanthi Madushani, Dilani Manodara (wk) , Hasini Perera, Chamari Polgampola, Udeshika Prabodhini, Inoka Ranaweera, Maduri Samuddika, H.A.S.D. Siriwardene, Prasadini Weerakkody (wk) and Sripalee Weerakkody
West Indies (from):Merissa Aguilleira (captain/wk), Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Britney Cooper, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Chinelle Henry, Stacy-Ann King, Kycia Knight, Hayley Matthews, Anisa Mohammed, Subrina Munroe, Tremayne Smartt and Stafanie Taylor
Forthcoming Fixtures
Sri Lanka v West Indies
13 May – First ODI, Colombo*
15 May – Second ODI, Colombo
18 May – Third ODI, Colombo
20 May – Fourth ODI, Colombo
*Denotes that this ODI does not count towards the ICC Women’s Championship
Points table:
| Teams | P | W | L | Tie | N/R | Points | NRR |
| Australia | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0.952 |
| South Africa | 9 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0.097 |
| Pakistan | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8 | -0.145 |
| England | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0.308 |
| West Indies | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.584 |
| New Zealand | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -0.876 |
| Sri Lanka | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | -0.347 |
| India | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | -0.371 |
Note – two points for a win, no point for a loss and one point for a no-result
Reliance ICC Women’s Player Rankings on ODIs (as on 11 May, ahead of Sri Lanka-West Indies):
Batters
Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Ranking
1 Sarah Taylor Eng 746 40.83 803 v Aus at Chelmsford 2009
2 C. Edwards Eng 731 38.49 749 v NZ at Lincoln 2015
3 Meg Lanning Aus 727*! 45.64 727 v WI at Bowral 2014
4 Mithali Raj Ind 680 48.88 839 v Aus at Baroda Vadodar 2004
5 H. Kaur Ind 678*! 36.38 678 v SA at Bangalore 2014
6 Stafanie Taylor WI 675 43.14 765 v Ind at St Kitts (WP) 2012
7 Suzie Bates NZ 668 36.95 734 v WI at Kingston 2013
8 Deandra Dottin WI 594 26.98 650 v NZ at Kingston 2013
9= Jessica Cameron Aus 580 37.63 660 v Pak at Brisbane 2014
C. Jayangani SL 580*! 33.44 580 v Pak at Sharjah 2015
Selected Rankings:
Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Ranking
26 E. Kaushalya SL 404 15.84 482 v Ind at Mumbai 2013
31 Kycia Knight WI 388* 20.33 400 v Aus at Bowral 2014
33 S. Campbelle WI 379 19.86 403 v NZ at St Kitts (WP) 2014
43 H.Matthews WI 347*! 60.25 347 v Aus at Bowral 2014
48 M. Aguilleira WI 323 18.40 526 v SA at St Kitts (WP) 2013
49 H.A.S.D.Siri’ne SL 322 19.28 497 v Pak at Canberra 2009
Bowling
Rank Player Team Pts Ave Highest Ranking
1 Stafanie Taylor WI 711 17.44 768 v NZ at Kingston 2013
2 Jhulan Goswami Ind 676 21.05 796 v Eng at Chennai 2007
3 Katherine Brunt Eng 665 22.65 796 v Ind at Mumbai 2013
4 A. Mohammed WI 655 17.66 704 v Aus at Sydney 2014
5 Jenny Gunn Eng 619 27.66 693 v Ind at Scarborough 2014
6 Shanel Daley WI 616 22.09 664 v NZ at St Kitts (WP) 2014
7 Sana Mir Pak 602 23.28 610 v SA at Sharjah 2015
8 Shibnam Ismail SA 583* 18.40 595 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2014
9 D. van Niekerk SA 579* 16.13 583 v Ind at Bangalore 2014
10 Erin Osborne Aus 564 25.82 581 v Eng at Melbourne 2014
Selected Rankings:
15 H.A.S.D.Siri’ne SL 503 23.95 535 v Eng at Colombo (NCC) 2010
17 T. Smartt WI 497* 30.11 524 v NZ at St Kitts (WP) 2014
36 S. Weerakkody SL 364* 35.70 397 v SA at Potchefstroom 2013
38 E. Kaushalya SL 354* 27.88 377 v WI at Dambulla 2013
49 U. Prabodhani SL 296* 44.46 326 v SA at Potchefstroom 2013
All-rounders
Rank Player Team Points Highest Ranking
1 Stafanie Taylor WI 480 560 v NZ at Kingston 2013
2 Ellyse Perry Aus 296! 296 v WI at Bowral 2014
3 D. van Niekerk SA 281*/*! 281 v Pak at Sharjah 2015
4 Marizanne Kapp SA 236/* 273 v Ind at Bangalore 2014
5 Jhulan Goswami Ind 233 245 v Aus at Ahmedabad 2012