With Meg Lanning, one of the all-time greats of the game set to play her 100th T20I, defending champions must bounce back from Friday’s loss to India with victory in Perth on Monday to keep their dreams alive.
Every match from here on is a virtual must-win for Australia to keep their hopes of walking out at the MCG on 8 March. And they would want to make a statement against a Sri Lanka side who have shown they will be no pushovrs.
If any team knows the threat of Chamari Athapaththu , it’s Australia - but former captain Rachael Haynes says they have some tricks up their sleeve to quieten the Sri Lanka captain in Perth. She scored her country’s first T20I century against Australia in September and has a good record against the hosts, having played a blinder in the ODI edition in 2017 as well.
The defending champions go into their second ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 match under added pressure after losing the opener - a contest that could prove decisive in their quest for the knockout stages.
Australia were boosted by Alyssa Healy’s revival in form but know they will need to watch out their opposition’s key batter at the WACA, with Haynes admitting the team has not forgotten about the Sri Lanka captain’s century against them earlier this summer.
“We know how dangerous she can be,” said Haynes. “We’ve got ideas on how we want to counter her attack. We’ll plan for her, because she clearly enjoys the ball coming onto the bat at the WACA.
“We want to respect that whole team. They’re a dangerous side who are capable of pushing us and putting us under pressure. The challenge that lies ahead of us isn’t too dissimilar to the challenge a lot of other teams face.
“If you want to win a World Cup and be part of the business end, you pretty much have to win five games of cricket. That’s what is in front of us right now.”
With an impressive record against the hosts and experience playing in the Women’s Big Bash League, Athapaththu is no stranger to a good performance on Australian soil.
The run shows no sign of stopping having hit an unbeaten 78 in Sri Lanka’s ten-wicket warm-up win over England followed by 41 under the lights against New Zealand in their Women’s T20 World Cup opener.
So it’s little surprise the in-form Athapaththu won’t be changing her approach against Australia at the WACA.
“I’ve tended to play my best cricket against Australia, but I try to do that against every team,” said Athapaththu.
“I love playing in these conditions and I love playing under pressure, which I think is why I always score against Australia.
“I always say to myself ‘play freely, with courage and be positive’. That’s all it is.
“Australia are the best team in the world with a lot of experienced players, but we have skilled defence.
“We have been planning for their strengths and weaknesses and we will try to do our best.”
Key stats:
• This will be Australia and Sri Lanka’s second ICC Women’s T20 World Cup meeting, Australia won their inaugral fixture by nine wickets at the 2016 edition.
• Sri Lanka have never opened an ICC Women’s T20 World Cup campaign with back-to-back defeats in completed fixtures; they’ll be looking to continue that trajectory after losing their opening game of this edition against New Zealand.
• Australia lost their opening game of this ICC Women’s T20 World Cup against India, in the 2014 campaign they lost their opening game (v New Zealand) and went on to win the tournament.
• Chamari Atapattu (435) is 65 runs away from becoming the first player to score 500 runs at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup for Sri Lanka, she has scored 40+ in three of her last five innings at the tournament.
• Alyssa Healy made the highest individual score (148*) of any player for Australia in women’s T20Is the last time she faced Sri Lanka (2 October 2019), she comes into this match off the back of a half-century against India in the opening game of this ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
Follow our complete coverage of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 here.
(With ICC inputs)
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