Sri Lanka Women vs Australia Women, ICCW T20 WC 2023, Today Match Prediction 16 February 2023

slw vs ausw Match Prediction & Analysis

Sri Lanka and Australia are the two unbeaten teams in the Group A of this tournament. The two will lock horns at St. George’s Park in Gqberha as they look to extend their winning run.

With two wins each, both Australia and Sri Lanka are well placed in the points table at number 1 and 2 respectively. A win here would increase the chances of a semi-final spot. 

Apart from these two teams, South Africa Women also have a chance of finishing with 6 points in their tally. In such a scenario, there would be three teams with 6 points each and the Net Run Rate will decide the second team to qualify for the semi-final from Group A.

The last game at this venue saw a low-scoring encounter between Australia and Bangladesh. The Aussies chased down a 108-run target in the 19th over. 

Sri Lanka Women are coming here on the back of a successful run chase against Bangladesh. They previously had defended a low total of 129 runs against the hosts South Africa in the opening match.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Sri Lanka Women Preview

Skipper Athapaththu has many reasons to be proud of her side in this Women’s T20 World Cup. While the bowling has continued to impress, the batters also managed to bounce back and deliver a win.

The opening match of the T20 World Cup saw the Sri Lankan bowlers crush the Proteas' batting order as they pulled off a 3-run win. In the next game, the star performers of that win were joined by the skipper Athapaththu as Sri Lanka women restricted Bangladesh to 126-8.

O Ranasinghe, Inoka Ranaweera, and Sungandika Kumari have been the top picks among the bowlers. They will pose a tough challenge to the Aussies on a difficult pitch at St. George’s Park.

Though the credit will go to the bowlers for their first win over South Africa, the batters did show promise in the next game. While it was the skipper with her 68 off 50 balls that helped Sri Lanka to 129 in the first game, others like Hartshitha Madavi and Nilakshi de Silva also stepped up in the second match contributing to the team’s win.

Now as Sri Lanka faces a strong Aussie bowling attack, the openers will have a big role in setting the right foundation. And Gunaratne and Nilakshi will also be crucial in the middle overs.

Sri Lanka Women Predicted Playing XI:

Harshitha Madavi, Chamari Athapaththu (c), Vishmi Gunaratne, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Nilakshi de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Ama Kanchana, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Sugandika Kumari, Inoka Ranaweera, Achini Kulasuriya

Sri Lanka Women Actual Playing XI:

Ama Kanchana, Harshitha Madavi, Vishmi Gunaratne, Nilakshi de Silva, Malsha Shehani, Achini Kulasuriya, Chamari Atapattu, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Inoka Ranaweera, Anushka Sanjeewani, Sugandika Kumari

Australia Women Preview

Australia have won both of their matches so far but haven’t looked threatening as they usually do. It took them 18 overs and two deliveries to chase down a 108-run target against Bangladesh Women.

And while they did post a competitive score batting first against New Zealand in their opening match, they stumbled their way to a 173-run total. The good news is that their key players are all in good touch. Alyssa Healey, Meg Lanning, Elysse Perry, and Ashleigh Gardner have all made significant contributions.

Gardner has been particularly impressive with the ball. While the usual suspects, Megan Schutt and Darcie Brown did a fine job against Bangladesh, they were also joined by the right-arm leg break Wareham.

Georgia Wareham picked 3 for 20 in her 4 overs and was the top bowler for Australia Women. Spinners will play a key role on this pitch and Australia have plenty of them. 

Though there has been a high-scoring game on this ground during the SA20, it doesn’t seem to be a particularly high-scoring venue. And as such, the batters need to have a cautious approach and not lose momentum by throwing away wickets.

Australia has an impeccable batting lineup that can adjust to any condition and put a match-winning total on the board.

Australia Women Predicted Playing XI:

Alyssa Healy (wk), Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning (c), Ashleigh Gardner, Ellyse Perry, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Georgia Wareham, Alana King, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown

Australia Women Actual Playing XI:

Meg Lanning, Grace Harris, Beth Mooney, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown, Alana King, Ellyse Perry, Tahlia McGrath, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Georgia Wareham

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

The pitch has something for the spinners. Batting will not be that easy and though some batters played thrilling knocks in SA20 encounters here, the surface is more suited for bowlers. Showers are expected on the match day with a high of 23 degrees Celsius.

Venue Details

St. George’s Park in Gqberha is the venue for this match. The average 1st innings score in the men’s domestic T20s here is 154 runs. Only 9 out of 40 innings has a team scored more than 170 runs on this ground. A match-winning score for the team batting first in this match should be something over 160 runs.

Toss: To Bat

There has been only one women’s T20I at this venue which Australia won as they successfully chased down a total. However, considering how challenging even a small total turned out to be, batting first would be the better option.