Women’s Cricket World Cup: Australia v Sri Lanka – live

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And here’s something I prepared earlier about the next generation of Australians and what the team will look like in the future, poised as we are at the end of an era.

If you’d like to read up on Sri Lanka’s first game of the tournament before we get underway here, we’ve got you covered there as well!

If you’d like some more reading material while we wait for this rain to clear, check out Raf Nicholson’s fantastic report on England’s demolition job of South Africa yesterday.

While you’re waiting for news from Colombo, we’ve got another cricket blog running – keep an eye on the Australia v New Zealand men’s T20 in Tauranga with the excellent James Wallace.

Seems like they take their covers pretty seriously in Sri Lanka – this looks like it’s going to keep the outfield pretty dry.

Start delayed due to a wet outfield

Not a fantastic update to have to share first up – seems like delayed starts are the trend in Australia’s matches today. Rain also delayed the start of the Australian Men’s team’s game against New Zealand earlier today! News from the ground is that the rain isn’t heavy and people are walking around without umbrellas, but it is continuing to fall at the moment. We will keep you updated!

Australian captain Alyssa Healy and Sri Lanka’s captain Chamari Athapaththu shake hands as they inspect the wicket prior to the match. Photograph: Matthew Lewis-ICC/ICC/Getty Images

Preamble

Hello and welcome, wherever you’re joining us from around the world!

It’s time for another match in the women’s Cricket World Cup, with Australia searching for their second win of the tournament after a hefty defeat of New Zealand a couple of days ago. Sri Lanka will be hoping to bounce back from their opening round defeat at the hands of their co-hosts India.

Sri Lanka have never beaten Australia in an ODI before, with Australia winning all 11 matches between the two teams. However, I think we can all agree that 11 is not a statistically significant number here – I don’t think we can say with certainty that Sri Lanka aren’t capable of coming up with a win.

They certainly nearly managed it back in the 2017 World Cup when Chamari Athapaththu scored 178* from 143 and the Australian bowlers did not seem to have a plan to counteract her. It was only a captain’s knock of 152* from Meg Lanning that saved the day for Australia that day.

Athapaththu holds the key to Sri Lanka’s chances once again in this match – if she can rack up a big score, her team may be able to pull off the upset. The Australians will know this and will be looking to target her weakness – when she is starved of runs early, she has a tendency to get frustrated and throw her wicket away trying to up the run rate.

It’s shaping up to be a fascinating match, so let’s get started! And remember you can send me an email – details are at the top of the page – if you’ve got any insights to share.