WI Women to tour Sri Lanka in June

The West Indies Women’s team will tour Sri Lanka from June 15 – 28, playing three One-Day Internationals (ODI) and three Twenty/20 matches.

The teams will compete for International Cricket Council (ICC) women’s Championship ODI points in Galle from June 15 – 21, before contesting the T20 series in Hambantota from June 24 – 28.

The West Indies team led by Hayley Matthews recorded a convincing 3-0 ODI series win over Pakistan last month, before completing a 4-1 series victory in the following T20 series.

Matthews, the 2023 ICC Women’s T20 Player of the Year, was in great form, and she walked away with two player of the series awards after impressive performances in both series, taking four player of the match honors in the process. In the ODI series, the 26-year-old exceeded her highest score twice in the format, including a superb 141 in the third and final match in Karachi on April 23.

Matthews picked up the ICC player of the month award for April, her third such accolade. The Barbados all-rounder triumph over South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt and impressive Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu for the award.

Athapaththu, the number one batter in the Women’s ODI game, will be doing her best to oppose Matthews and her Windies team when the Sri Lankans welcome the Caribbean women to their country. The West Indies currently tops the head-to-head battle between the teams in either format.

Both teams will try to set the foundation for the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup, which is being staged in Bangladesh in October.

Earlier this month, Athapaththu and Sri Lanka booked their qualification for the showpiece World Cup event after defeating Scotland in the final of the qualifying tournament. Athapaththu topped the tournament aggregate with 226 runs and she also scored a splendid 102 in the final.