White-ball tour of South Africa: Sri Lanka name squad

Sri Lanka Cricket have named a 17-member squad for their upcoming white-ball tours of South Africa.

The squad will be captained by regular skipper and ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year, Chamari Athapaththu, and the series will begin with the T20I leg in Benoni on March 27.

The two sides will play a three-match T20I series followed by the same number of ODIs, which will also form part of the ICC Women's Championship 2022-25 cycle. South Africa currently sit 2nd in the IWC standings with 20 points from 15 matches, behind leaders Australia, while Sri Lanka are 8th with 11 points from 15 matches.

This will be the first time since 2019 that the Sri Lankan women will tour South Africa for a bilateral series. It will also be the first bilateral exchange between the two sides since 2019.

Sri Lanka's last visit to South Africa saw them play an equal number of T20Is and ODIs, both of which the hosts won comfortably.

With the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 in Bangladesh fast approaching, this white-ball clash would be crucial for both teams' preparations.

The last time the two sides met in a white-ball clash was at last year's T20 World Cup in Cape Town, which Sri Lanka won by three runs in a hard-fought match.

Athapaththu starred with a 50-ball 68 to claim the player of the match award, while Inoka Ranaweera shone with the ball with returns of 3/18.

Sri Lanka squad for the white-ball tour of South Africa:
Chamari Athapaththu, Vishmi Gunaratne, Nilakshi de Silva, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Hasini Perera, Anushka Sanjeewani, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoka Ranaweera, Achini Kulasuriya, Hansima Karunaratne, Imesha Dulani, Kawya Kavindi, Inoshi Fernando, Sugandika Kumari, Prasadini Weerakkody

Schedule

27 March: 1st T20I, Willowmoore Park, Benoni
30 March: 2nd T20I, Senwes Park, Potchefstroom
3 April: 3rd T20I, Buffalo Park, East London
9 April: 1st ODI, Buffalo Park, East London
13 April: 2nd ODI, Diamond Oval, Kimberley
17 April: 3rd ODI, Senwes Park, Potchefstroom