SL women off to Zimbabwe for ICC World qualifiers

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Sri Lanka women's team led by Chamari Athapaththu left the Island on Tuesday (16) for the ICC women's World Cup qualifier 2021 to be played across four venues in Harare, Zimbabwe from November 21 to December 05. In the qualifiers, Sri Lanka will play in Group 'A' and battle it out with the West Indies, Ireland, and the Netherlands in the preliminary round. Sri Lanka will play their opening encounter against the Netherlands on November 23rd . 27th November Sri Lanka v West Indies 29th November Ireland v Sri Lanka Nine teams play the group stages in two groups. With Papua New Guinea pulling out of the qualifiers, Group A will consist of only four teams. The groups are: Group A: West Indies, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands. Group B: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Zimbabwe, USA The Sri Lankan team is a mix of well-experienced and new players coached under the guidance of former Sri Lanka Test Captain Hashan Tillakaratne. According to SLC sources the team has been practicing for the past 5 months along with 3 residential training camps. Back after a successful Big Bash League campaign in Australia, skipper Chamari Athapaththu was confident of her team after having some fruitful practice sessions and is well prepared for the competition. The top three teams from each group go to the Super 6 stage, with group stage points carrying over to the next phase. From there, the top three after the Super 6 stage will qualify for the Women's Cricket World Cup 2022 being held in New Zealand next year, along with the hosts, Australia, England, South Africa, and India, who have directly qualified for the event. The top five will also qualify for the next edition of the ICC Women's Championship, which is expanding from eight teams to 10. The 2022 edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup will be held in New Zealand. Sri Lanka women's team - Chamari Athapaththu (captain), Harshita Madhavi (vice-captain), Nilakshi de Silva, Hasini Perera, Sugandika Kumari, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Ama Kanchana, Udeshika Prabodhani, Achini Kulasuriya, Anushka Sanjeewani, Kaveesha Dilhari, Tharika Sewwandi, Prasadini Weerakkody, Imesha Dulani, Vishmi Rajapaksa, Sachini Nisansala. Additional players - Umesha Timashini, Kavya Kavindi, Madushika Metthananda, Sathya Sandeepani, Lihini Apsara. Coaching Staff - Hashan Tillakaratne (Head Coach), Hemantha Devapriya (Manager), Tasneem Yusuf (Physiotherapist), Ravindra Pushpakumara (Fast bowling Coach), Lanka de Silva (Batting Coach), Chamikaa Perera (Masseuse), Dinuk Hettiarachchi (Spin bowling Coach) ), Kaviranga Wijesinghe (Computer Analyst), Darshan Weerasinghe (Trainer), Mathesha de Silva (Physician), Indrani Ariyaratne (Officer in charge of players).