Sri Lanka Women vs New Zealand Women, 15th Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Another game has been rained off.The points will be shared. Both the skippers shake hands and it is a truce. And this is the second no result of the tournament and both of them have happened in Colombo. SL move to two points and they have collected that thanks to rained off affairs. NZ move to three points. They would have had a tough chase today and would have been tested but that was not to be. The groundsmen tried their best but the bout of rain in two segments never allowed them a chance despite covering the entire ground. The persistence of the rain also didn't help. It is still raining as I type. We will be back tomorrow with another game at Colombo. But we have our fingers crossed! See you then. Take care!!!

Chamari Athapaththu: We assess the conditions and played good cricket. Unfortunately, we can't complete the game. Not in our hands. She has struggled as an opener so she moved down to number 4. I talked to her. And she is back at the top (talking about Vishmi). Nilakshi is an experienced player. Last 12 months, she has been playing good cricket. We missed another 20-25 runs. I had talked to the bowlers to atack the stumps. These are the things we talked before the rain. Next game is important as we only have 3 games. Hopefully, we will play the next game without the rain.

Sophie Devine: I thought Sri Lanka batted particularly well. I think we've seen a bit of a theme sort of start to develop for this tournament, where if you've got wickets in hand near the back end, then you can start to really exploit that. I thought we managed to sort of pick them back a little bit after the power play sort of time, but then, yeah, I guess when you've got wickets in hand, you can be a bit more at least aggressive, and they probably got a few more runs than we would have liked, but in saying that, I thought it was a good cricket wicket. We were probably saying 240-250 was probably par on that. So, shame that the weather sort of had to play its part in it. It would have been a really exciting chase, and we were excited, but, you know, it's the way it's going to be today. It's a hard one, isn't it, because stats and numbers and stuff can only go so far if we sort of, I guess, use a little bit of your gut and intuition, and today it probably didn't quite come off as we would have planned, but, you know, some days are like that. Other days, you know, where you get fifer, and it's, you know, it's a great call. So, I think that's the really interesting thing about cricket, isn't it? It's how you manipulate those matchups and the numbers and the figures and stats, and I guess trust your gut and what you think is going to work well on the day. So, look, again, it's another, yeah, I guess experience and opportunity for our bowlers who are out there against a real quality side in Sri Lanka. So, yeah, it'll be something that we keep revisiting and readjusting, I guess, as we move on through this tournament. Yeah, well, I mean, I only bowled one over the other day, but, yeah, I guess it's, I sort of. Well, I guess I've got myself to blame, really, isn't it? But, yeah, I guess it's a thing for me. I just sort of see where I can fit in amongst the rest of the group, I think, because we've got so much variety and different options. It's a case of if the team needs someone to go stump to stump and change up, that's probably where I can fit in and try and contain an end. And, yeah, I guess today, that was effective on that wicket. I thought, you know, being able to bowl with the likes of Melie and Eden and try and squeeze a few dots there was really important. But, yeah, for me, it's just about trying to fit in where I can. That's best suited for the team and using, yeah, other bowlers to their strengths as well. Well, hopefully a full game for a start. It would be a good start. But, yeah, fingers crossed that we can get a full game in. We know Pakistan are going to be, you know, a real handful in these conditions. We know that they've got talent throughout and they've pushed different teams in this tournament already. So, look, we hope we'll, you know, review half the game that we played today and we'll, I guess, come up with new plans. Obviously, being able to play on that wicket, I think, is really important to us. The outfield is probably slightly different than what we've played in an India. So, again, it's another really exciting opportunity. We just hope that we can get a full game of cricket.

9:02pm local: The rain has gotten heavier. If we don't resume in the next 40 odd mins or so, this will be deemed as a no result. The entire ground stands covered and it should take considerable time to remove them and get the ground match ready. The umpires were about to have an inspection when the rains returned around 30 minutes to ensure the ground was sheeted again. The groundsmen are in a huddle and discussing further course of action as there is a game tomorrow. Don't have your hopes high for today I would say. We will wait and have our fingers crossed.

8:53pm local: The entire ground has been covered in a jiffy. This ain't good for the game. Less than an hour remains for the cut-off time now. Remember, SL already have had a wash out. But they would be gutted if they don't get a chance to defend this. They had a healthy total on board. NZ will have mixed feelings in case we have a no result today. Hardly any green is visible as the entire ground wears blue. We will continue our waiting game.

8.45pm local: All covers except one have been removed. They're running what looks like a mini-version of a supersopper over that last remaining cover. Oh dear, just when the lengthy process of removing the covers was about to end, the rain seems to have returned. Covers being rushed back on. Thankfully it only seems to be a drizzle at the moment.

8.20pm local: The umpires are out there, carrying out an inspection of the outfield. A lot of the covers still haven't been removed completely. Umpires now having a chat with the head groundsman.

8pm local: Rain has stopped and one of the umpires is standing on the covers, monitoring the activity from the groundstaff. 9.50pm is the cut-off time to start a 20-overs chase. Covers are now being removed. This is going to take some time with plenty of covers out there, and a lot of water on them too. But the groundstaff are very efficient and have got the process nailed down.

7.45pm local: Rain has picked up again and the wait continues. We'll also start losing overs.

7.33pm local: Rain has reduced and the groundstaff are gathering on the covers.

7.10pm local: Absolutely pouring out there. We're in for a significant delay.

6.53pm local: It has started to rain and the covers are coming on. Start of the chase will delayed. Coming down heavily at the moment and the whole ground is being covered.

Sri Lanka Women's innings progression
Overs 1-10: 52/0 (RR: 5.20)
Overs 11-40: 126/2 (RR: 4.20)
Overs 41-50: 80/4 (RR: 8.00)

New Zealand Women's bowling today
Pace: 6/156 in 29 overs, ER: 5.37
Spin: 0/96 in 21 overs: ER: 4.57

New Zealand spinners in this tournament
Mats: 4
Wickets: 6 — (least among all)
Avg: 54.83
SR: 68.6 — (worst among all)
ER: 4.79
Dot%: 54.6

26-ball fifty by Nilakshi de Silva is the fastest fifty for Sri Lanka Women in ODIs, bettering her own 28 balls against India at the venue earlier this year.

258/6 is Sri Lanka Women’s second-highest total in the World Cup after 282/5 against India at Brabourne in the 2013 edition.

Vishmi Gunaratne: I think we have a good score on the board. We had some partnerships also. I was trying to remind myself to stay calm and play the natural game. Our strike rate was also good. We didn't think much. I think the pitch is a good one to bat. We need to concentrate on line and length. Nilakshi is a good batter. She has helped us put up a good score.

18:26 Local Time, 12:56 GMT, 18:26 IST: It's the highest total of the World Cup in Colombo and it'll take some chasing. Nilakshi de Silva, what a knock that was. She came in and started hitting the ball beautifully from the word go, ending up with the fastest fifty of the tournament off just 26 balls. The platform was set for her by the batters who came in earlier. They had an opening stand of 101 between Vishmi Gunaratne and Chamari Athapaththu. There were contributions from Hasini Perera and Harshitha Samarawickrama as well. And then, with wickets in hand, Nilakshi just unleashed in those final 10 overs which produced 81 runs. New Zealand had a sloppy day on the field, missing more than a couple of opportunities, and their batters now have a big challenge ahead of them. Back shortly for the chase...