26/06 - 01:30 PM EDT
          25th Match, Group 2 (D/N), ICC Women's T20 World Cup at Manchester, Jun 26 2026
          26/06 - 01:30 PM EDT
          25th Match, Group 2 (D/N), ICC Women's T20 World Cup at Manchester, Jun 26 2026

          Sri Lanka seek big win against Scotland to keep semi-final hopes alive

          Chamari Athapaththu celebrates her 58-ball century ICC/Getty Images
          • Srinidhi Ramanujam
          Jun 25, 2026, 08:15 AM ET

          Who's playing whom?

          Sri Lanka take on Scotland in Manchester at 18:30 local time (17:30 GMT) in the Women's T20 World Cup. Scotland, with three losses in four matches, are out of the semi-final race. With England having already booked a spot in the semi-finals, Sri Lanka's only hope is to beat Scotland by a big margin and then hope for a few other results to go their way.

          Sri Lanka are coming off a confidence-boosting win against Ireland, powered by Chamari Athapaththu's century, while Scotland lost to New Zealand despite a spirited performance. The teams have met three times in T20Is with Sri Lanka winning all three. In their last meeting, in the 2024 T20 World Cup Qualifier in Abu Dhabi, Athapaththu made a 63-ball 102.

          Team news and likely XIs

          Sri Lanka strengthened their batting against Ireland by bringing in an extra batter in Hansima Karunaratne and replacing Vishmi Gunaratne with Hasini Perera. Even though Athapaththu single-handedly won the previous match, Sri Lanka could stick with the same XI.

          Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Chamari Athapaththu (capt), 2 Imesha Dulani, 3 Hasini Perera, 4 Harshitha Samarawickrama, 5 Hansima Karunaratne, 6 Kaveesha Dilhari, 7 Nilakshika Silva, 8 Kaushini Nuthyangana (wk), 9 Sugandika Kumari, 10 Nimesha Meepage, 11 Mithali Ayodhya

          For Scotland, Ailsa Lister and Rachel Slater, who had both been unavailable due to injury, returned against New Zealand, with Chloe Abel and Gabriella Fontenla making way.

          Scotland (probable): 1 Darcey Carter, 2 Katherine Fraser, 3 Kathryn Bryce (capt), 4 Sarah Bryce (wk), 5 Ailsa Lister, 6 Pippa Sproul, 7 Priyanaz Chatterji, 8 Kirstie Gordon, 9 Megan McColl, 10 Rachel Slater, 11 Hannah Rainey

          Players to watch

          Seamer Mithali Ayodha had a nervy start to her World Cup campaign, conceding 40 runs in four overs against England in Sri Lanka's opening game. However, she bounced back with figures of 1 for 24, 0 for 7 and 1 for 18 against New Zealand, West Indies and Ireland respectively. Sri Lanka will be hoping Ayodhya continues her form and makes early inroads against Scotland.

          In Scotland's only win of the tournament, left-arm spinner Kirstie Gordon starred with three wickets to derail Ireland's chase in Manchester. Having made her debut for Scotland this year, the former England player has taken 11 wickets in eight matches, the joint-third most for the team. Scotland will seek a repeat of that display at the same venue on Friday

          Weather and conditions

          Manchester is expected to be hot, with a slight chance of an afternoon shower. Spinners are expected to have a significant role to play.