SAMARAWICKRAMA: SRI LANKA STILL BELIEVE WE CAN REACH SEMI-FINALS
Media release
Harshitha Samarawickrama says Sri Lanka still have total belief they can qualify for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 semi-finals ahead of their final Group B game against Scotland at Old Trafford.
Jamie Siddons’s team need to win on Friday and hope the West Indies and New Zealand falter against Ireland and England, respectively, the following day.
They also require a net run-rate swing, a factor Samarawickrama says has been incorporated into their game plan.
They’ll be hoping for another big performance from their captain Chamari Athapaththu, after she fired an emphatic unbeaten century to steer her side past Ireland on Tuesday.
“She's a legend,” Samarawickrama said of her skipper.
“She's a living legend in Sri Lankan cricket. She plays really good cricket, and she’s a role model for us.
“She always shares her own knowledge and it’s a great honour to play with her.”
Samarawickrama feels it has been a tournament of progress for the ICC’s seventh-ranked nation, following their winless campaign in 2024.
Their final assignment is against Scotland, who have impressed in their second ICC Women’s T20 World Cup appearance, claiming their first win against Ireland and pushing the West Indies and New Zealand close.
Opener Darcey Carter has had a particularly impressive campaign, sitting second in the run-scoring charts only to England’s Danni Wyatt-Hodge.
Samarawickrama knows they can take nothing for granted against the ICC’s 11th-ranked nation.
“In the 2024 World Cup, we didn't play good cricket,” she said.
“This year, we have played really good cricket. We won against New Zealand, which was a great achievement in Sri Lankan cricket.
“Scotland are one of the best upcoming teams, so it's a great challenge for us.
“You can't undermine any team in this World Cup, everybody's playing good cricket.
“We are going to take it one step at a time, make sure we win first, and then think about the net run-rate, but we believe we can do it.”
While Sri Lanka are gunning for qualification to the semi-finals, Scotland are hoping to sew up a place in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2028.
With the top four sides in each group securing a spot, a win would take them side above Sri Lanka and into fourth spot.
Priyanaz Chatterji said: “We are going into the game to try and win it, we probably haven’t played a complete game of cricket.
“There have been periods across games where we have been very good, whether that be with the bat, with the ball or in the field. But we still feel like we have got more to give.
“The implications of the win mean we would qualify for the next World Cup without having to go through the qualification process, so there is a lot at stake in that game.”
Chatterji won her 150th Scotland cap against England at Headingley, with the huge crowd a far cry from her debut in 2008.
The World Cup has now passed 125,000 spectators before the group stages have even finished, and the all-rounder has been reflecting on how the team have managed playing the world's best in big grounds, and how to tackle the might of Athapaththu.
“She is a phenomenal player and a really exciting one to watch, and in a way to play against,” the all-rounder added.
“That is the fun of playing against these world-class players and trying to do your best up against them.
“I don’t think we will go too far away from our general game plan. Coming into this tournament, it is easy to get a little bit overwhelmed by the occasion and think you need to reinvent the wheel.
“But actually, it is just your margin for error becomes a lot smaller against the best, you know what you are trying to do, but you know if you slightly miss, you are going to get sent.”