- Set for historic white-ball series in April-May
The Sri Lanka Women’s cricket team under new head coach Jamie Siddons is due to undertake their maiden bilateral white-ball tour of Bangladesh next month, while being fresh from their highly successful tour of the West Indies early this month.
The national Women’s team who are due to leave these shores on 17 April, is yet to feature in a One-Day International (ODI) or T20I series on Bangladesh soil.
The last time the two teams met was three years ago, when the former clinched both the three-match ODI (1-0) and T20I (2-1) series at home.
Sri Lanka, though, have previously featured in a ODI Women’s Tri-Nation Series featuring Pakistan and Bangladesh in the latter country back in 2008, which the Lankans won beating the Pakistani Women’s team in the final under former captain Shashikala Siriwardene.
The forthcoming white-ball series will also be the last assignment for both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka before the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s T20 World Cup in England and Wales, which is due to take place from 12 June to 5 July.
However, on current form, Chamari Athapaththu’s team will be favourites to register their second consecutive bilateral white-ball series triumph coming on the heels of their historic success in the Caribbean recently.
The forthcoming series will also feature international cricket for the first-time ever at Rajshahi - a prominent metropolitan city in Bangladesh but which has not yet hosted teams from overseas due to lack of top-quality hotels.
However, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is hopeful that the improved infrastructure facilities hosting the SL women’s team for three One-Day Internationals will boost Rajshahi’s image while being a boon for its tourism industry.
In the West Indies series, in which the Lankans were trained by acting head coach Sumithra Warnakulasuriya, the tourists won the ODI series 2-1, which was only their second-ever bilateral series victory outside these shores.
It also marked their second series success over the Maroon Warriors in the West Indies since 2002; they repeated the success in the subsequent T20I series, winning it 2-0.
It was also their first overseas success in a bilateral series in the sport’s shortest format since beating South Africa Women 2-1 three years ago.
Sri Lanka are currently placed sixth in ODIs and seventh in T20Is in the latest ICC World Rankings with Bangladesh in seventh and 10th positions, respectively. Australia heads the rankings in both formats.
The full itinerary for the Sri Lanka Women’s cricket team’s upcoming white-ball tour of Bangladesh is as follows.
1st ODI 20 April – Rajshahi
2nd ODI 22 April – Rajshahi
3rd ODI 25 April – Rajshahi
1st T20I 28 April – Sylhet
2nd T20I 30 April – Sylhet
3rd T20I 2 May – Sylhet