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NZ-W VS SL-W MATCH DETAILS:

Match: New Zealand Women vs Sri Lanka Women, Match 8, Women’s T20 Commonwealth Games 2022
Date and Time: Tuesday, August 2, 2022, 10:30 PM IST
Venue: Edgbaston, Birmingham

New Zealand Women (NZ-W) and Sri Lanka Women (SL-W) will square off in the eighth match of the Women’s T20 Commonwealth Games 2022 on Tuesday (August 2) at Edgbaston in Birmingham.

New Zealand Women registered a 13-run win against South Africa Women in their first match. Suzie Bates smashed an unbeaten 91 to take New Zealand to 167/2 from their 20 overs, batting first. They then bowled well to restrict South Africa Women to 154/7 in the end.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Women lost their opening game of the competition against England Women. Their batting unit failed to come to the party as they could only score 106/9 batting first. It was a comfortable chase for England Women as they scaled down the target in just 17.1 overs with five wickets to spare.

New Zealand Women will be keen to make it two wins while Sri Lanka Women eye their first victory of the competition.

NEW ZEALAND WOMEN

New Zealand’s match against South Africa Women was likely to be the deciding factor for this group and by winning that one the Kiwis have certainly got their noses in front. They were one of the most likely candidates of getting into the next round and a big win here should add to their probability of qualification.

At the moment on the points table, the Kiwis are placed at the second spot and a big win here may well push them to the top of the ladder. Along with a couple of points, they have a decent enough net run rate of 0.650, which might come in handy should things not go according to plan.

On paper, New Zealand has an immaculately balanced side that has almost all bases covered. Besides, they are coming off a superb result in the last match and should be brimming with confidence coming into this match. Considering how well they have been playing, getting past them would certainly not be an easy task, especially if they can play to their peak potential.

SRI LANKA WOMEN

Sri Lanka Women have been around in Women’s Cricket for quite some time now, but they haven’t been able to step up on the gas. More often than not, they have languished at the bottom of the ICC events and their campaign in the Commonwealth Games isn’t going in the other direction either.

Sri Lanka Women are coming off a massive loss, in terms of the number of balls remaining, at the hands of England Women and would be keen to put up a better show here. They are currently placed at the bottom of the points table in Group B and are likely to finish there unless they put up a much-improved show in the matches to come. They have a poor net run rate of -1.050 and will need to improve that as well.

On paper, they are a bit too over-reliant on Chamari Athapaththu, who too has been a bit too inconsistent in recent times. They together as a bunch were poor against England Women and might be running a bit low on confidence. A silver lining for them, however, is that they recently produced a win over India Women and they’d know that they can topple the stronger sides as well.

All in all, not a lot has worked for Sri Lanka Women, of late, and they would want to redeem themselves. They have some talented players available at their disposal and they all will need to play to their potential. If they can do that, getting past them could prove to be a challenging task.

WEATHER CONDITIONS

The pitch at Edgbaston, Birmingham has been really good so far. There has been something in it for both spinners and seamers while batters have enjoyed their time here as well. It remains true throughout and tends to become a little better for batting in the second half.

A few morning showers are expected over Birmingham tomorrow, but we should get a full game.

VENUE DETAILS

Birmingham hasn’t turned out to be a high-scoring ground in the Commonwealth Games 2022 so far. The highest total achieved here so far is New Zealand Women’s 167-2. The average total batting first here is 162. The team batting first in this game will look to set a target of around 175 runs.

TOSS: TO BOWL

Chasing has yielded better results in Birmingham in this tournament so far, so the team winning the toss is likely to bat second.

PROBABLE BEST BATTER

SUZIE BATES:

Batter Suzie Bates was simply exceptional during her previous outing against South Africa Women. The stylish batter went on to score 91* runs from 64 balls which included eight fours and three sixes. Coming to the next game, she will want to emulate her performance with the bat.

PROBABLE BEST BOWLER

INOKA RANAWEERA:

Spinner Inoka Ranaweera was impressive with the ball for Sri Lanka in the last game against England. The left-arm spinner scalped three wickets and gave away just 29 runs in her four-over quota at an excellent economy of 7.25. Ranaweera will want to scalp some crucial wickets for her side in the next match against New Zealand as well.

NZ-W VS SL-W MATCH PREDICTION

New Zealand Women come into this match with momentum from their previous encounter. Their top order came to the party while their bowlers bowled as a unit as well.

Sri Lanka Women, on the other hand, struggled in their opening game. Their batters will have to step up and this young team has to come together as a unit. New Zealand Women will start as favorites to win this Women’s T20 Commonwealth Games clash.

Prediction: New Zealand Women to win this encounter.