Australia v Sri Lanka: All you need to know

04 Oct 2024 Laura Jolly, in Dubai

Australia’s T20 World Cup campaign gets underway as they meet Sri Lanka, and play in Sharjah for the first time

Match Facts

Who: Australia v Sri Lanka

When: Saturday October 5. Coin toss at 7.30pm AEST, first ball at 8pm AEST (2pm local time)

Where: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates

How to watch: Amazon Prime Video

Officials: Suzanne Redfern, Anna Harris (standing umpires), Lauren Agenbag (third), Kim Cotton (fourth)

Live scores: Australia v Sri Lanka match centre

Feature

On the front foot: Fresh ethos driving Australia's four-peat bid

The scenario

Sri Lanka started their World Cup campaign in Sharjah on Thursday, but it did not go to plan as they fell 31 runs short of Pakistan's 116 all out.

Australia have had to wait until Saturday to get their own campaign underway with what will be their only day time match for the tournament.

Wide-brim hats will be a popular choice come matchday // cricket.com.au

In a tough group that also contains India, Pakistan and New Zealand, a win here would go a long way towards securing a top two finish and a semi-final berth.

As a reminder, here are Australia's Group A fixtures:

October 5: v Sri Lanka, Sharjah Cricket Stadium, 8pm AEST

October 8: v New Zealand, Sharjah Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 9 AEDT

October 11: v Pakistan, Dubai International Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 12 AEDT

October 13: v India, Sharjah Cricket Stadium, 1am Oct 14 AEDT

The squads

Australia: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ash Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

Australia have had a few injury concerns coming into this World Cup opener, with Grace Harris and Phoebe Litchfield under injury clouds. Harris suffered a mild calf strain ahead of the New Zealand T20I series and has been working her way back to a return, while Litchfield reported groin soreness following Australia’s first full training session in Dubai.

Litchfield nears return as Australia mull spin dilemma

Kim Garth missed the NZ series with a knee injury but has recovered and bowled in the warm-up game against England.

Sri Lanka: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Anushka Sanjeewani, Harshitha Madhavi, Nilakshika de Silva, Inoka Ranaweera, Hasini Perera, Kavisha Dilhari, Sachini Nisansala, Vishmi Gunaratne, Udeshika Prabodhani, Achini Kulasuriya, Sugandika Kumari, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Shashini Gimhani, Ama Kanchana. Travelling reserve: Kaushini Nuthyangana

Chamari Athapaththu is leading a similar squad to the one that saw Sri Lanka to their first-ever Women’s Asia Cup title win in July. Inoka Ranaweera was the only inclusion, with the left-arm spinner adding significant experience to their bowling attack.

What it means: Aussies presented with surprise selection letters

How to watch

The new era for watching World Cup cricket in Australia continues.

All 23 matches of the tournament will be shown live on Amazon's Prime Video online subscription streaming service after the internet giant recently acquired the Aussie broadcast rights for all ICC events for the next four years. There is no free-to-air Australian broadcast of this World Cup as a result.

You can sign up to Prime Video by clicking here, with a 30-day free trial on offer for new members.

How to recap

If you can’t catch the match live, you can catch on demand highlights packages on Prime Video.

The rest of the information you need will be right here on cricket.com.au: scores, recaps, interviews and highlights will all review what took place and keep you informed on the key takeaways.

Local knowledge

Only 10 women's T20Is had been played at the venue prior to this tournament, offering little data to go off.

Just two matches have been played at the ground at this early stage of the tournament, but the early indication is that it is suiting the spinners.

Pakistan chose to bat first in their night game against Sri Lanka expecting dew, but none eventuated.

Australia has never played here, while Sri Lanka’s three T20Is at the venue were against Pakistan back in 2015.

Aussies face huge selection calls for Sri Lanka showdown

Possible starting XIs

Australia: Alyssa Healy (c)(wk), Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Ashleigh Gardner, Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, Sophie Molineux, Megan Schutt, Tayla Vlaeminck

Australia had two players under an injury cloud going into the match, and the availability of Phoebe Litchfield and Grace Harris will impact the final XI. They will have kept a very close eye on the first two games in Sharjah on Thursday, which could determine whether they stick to the same formula for their bowling attack as they did against New Zealand last month, or bring in another spinner in Alana King.

Sri Lanka: Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu (c), Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Hasini Perera, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Sugandika Kumari, Inoshi Fernando, Sachini Nisansala, Udeshika Prabodani

Sri Lanka went into their showdown with Pakistan with left-armer Udeshik Prabodhani as their only seamer, alongside a bevy of spinners. Prabodhani picked up three Pakistan wickets in that game, while off-spinners Chamari Athapaththu and Kavisha Dilhari, and left-arm orthodox spinner Sugandika Kumari took seven between them.

Players to watch

Beth Mooney has a strong record against Sri Lanka, who she has hit 247 runs at 82 against from six innings, with a strike rate of 130.85. It’s going to be very, very hot in Sharjah on Friday afternoon and while the Queenslander famously battles in extreme heat, she also has a tendency to rise to the occasion when the odds are against her.

Beth Mooney getting acclimatised to the Emirati conditions // cricket.com.au

The chat around Sri Lanka is typically focussed on their skipper Chamari Athapaththu and for good reason. But that’s a little too obvious, and the left-hander has found some strong support in her batting line-up of late, including Harshitha Samarawickrama, who was player of the match in their triumphant Asia Cup final win over India when she hit 69no from 51 balls.

Recent form

Past 10 T20 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, N: no result

Australia: WWWWWWWLWW

Australia recorded clean sweeps in their past two T20I series against New Zealand and Bangladesh. Their last defeat in the format was a historic first loss to South Africa during their multi-format series in January.

Sri Lanka: LLWWWWWWLL

Sri Lanka went on a tear in July, going through the Asia Cup undefeated. Their six-match winning streak came to an end in Ireland in August, when they were beaten without skipper Chamari Athapaththu available.

Last time they met

The teams last met at the 2023 T20 World Cup in South Africa. In that game in Gqeberha, Meg Lanning put Sri Lanka in to bat first and Megan Schutt dominated, taking 4-24 to restrict their rivals to 8-112. Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney made fairly light work of the chase, hitting 54no and 56no respectively as Australia sealed a 10-wicket win in 15.5 overs.

Head-to-head

Played: 7

Australia wins: 7

Sri Lanka wins: 0

Rapid stats

Australia have won their last 11 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup matches – the longest winning run of any team in the history of the tournament.
However, Australia have only begun a campaign with a victory in four of the eight previous tournaments
Sri Lanka have won 75 per cent of their T20Is in 2024 (W15 L5) – their best win rate in a calendar year in the history of the format
No Australian batter has scored a six across their last three T20I batting innings – their longest run without hitting a six in the history of the format since a four-game stretch in June 2011.
Sri Lanka took all 10 of Pakistan’s wickets in their opening World Cup match; it was the fourth time in their last six bowling innings in the tournament they have taken at least eight of their opposition’s wickets.
Alyssa Healy (2,987) is 13 runs away from becoming the second player to score 3,000 runs for Australia in women’s T20Is after Meg Lanning (3,405). Healy has recorded two unbeaten scores of 50+ across her last three T20I innings against Sri Lanka (148*, 0, 54*).
Inoka Ranaweera (16 wickets) is four away from surpassing Shashikala Siriwardene (19) for the second most wickets for Sri Lanka in T20 World Cup history.
Harshitha Samarawickrama (Sri Lanka) has scored 227 runs at an average of 113.5 across her last four T20I innings (69*, 86*, 65, 7); she has recorded 2* (24 February 2020) and 34 (16 February 2023) in her only two previous T20 World Cup innings against Australia.

2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup