Ireland Women will clash with Sri Lanka Women in the first ODI of the three-match series which gets underway at Belfast from Friday. While Sri Lanka are ranked 5th in the ICC Women ODI Rankings, Ireland are at number 11. The two-match T20I series between the two nations ended at 1-1.

LAST 5 MATCHES

IRELAND-W: W W W T W

SRI LANKA-W: L W W W W

THE LIKELY PLAYING XIs FOR IRELAND-W vs SRI LANKA-W

Sri Lanka-W likely XI

Batters: Vishmi Gunarathne, Nilakshika Silva, Hasini Perera

Allrounders: Chamari Athapaththu, Kavisha Dilhari, Ama Kanchana

Wicketkeeper: Kaushani Nuthyangana

Bowlers: Shashini Gimhani, Kawya Kavindi, Sugandika Kumari, Sachini Nisansala

Ireland-W likely XI

Batters: Gaby Lewis, Alice Tector, Rebecca Stokell, Una Raymond-Hoey

Allrounders: Arlene Kelly, Laura Delany, Orla Prendergast

Wicketkeeper: Amy Hunter

Bowlers: Jane Maguire, Freya Sargent, Ava Canning

Statistical Performance (Ireland-W)

1. GABY LEWIS

Gaby Lewis has a fine record for Ireland in ODI cricket with an aggregate of 1175 runs in 41 appearances at an average of close to 32.

GABY LEWIS IN WODIs

INNINGS - 41

RUNS - 1175

AVERAGE - 31.75

STRIKE RATE - 66.87

50/100 - 8/0

2. ORLA PRENDERGAST

Orla Prendergast has been in good touch with the bat and has scored 467 runs in 20 innings at an average of 29.2.

ORLA PRENDERGAST IN WODIs

INNINGS - 20

RUNS - 467

AVERAGE - 29.18

STRIKE RATE - 75.56

50/100 - 2/0

Players Who Can Make a Difference (Ireland-W)

1. ARLENE KELLY

Arlene Kelly has been in good wicket-taking form for Ireland. Overall, she has 22 wickets in 18 matches at an economy of 4.39.

2. LAURA DELANY

Laura Delany has played 60 WODIs for Ireland in which she has scored 1060 runs including a hundred while also bagging 27 wickets.

Statistical Performance (Sri Lanka Women)

1. NILAKSHIKA SILVA

Nilakshika Silva has been in great form in WODIs this year with 163 runs in 5 innings at a strike rate of 78.7 including two fifties.

NILAKSHIKA SILVA IN WODIs

INNINGS - 34

RUNS - 683

AVERAGE - 26.26

STRIKE RATE - 65.29

50/100 - 2/0

2. KAVISHA DILHARI

Kavisha Dilhari is a spinner who can bamboozle the opposition batters with her off spin and leg spin. She is one of the primary all-rounders for Sri Lanka.

KAVISHA DILHARI IN WODIs

MATCHES - 23

RUNS - 403

STRIKE RATE - 78.1

WICKETS - 22

ECONOMY RATE - 4.81

Players Who Can Make a Difference (Sri Lanka Women)

1. CHAMARI ATHAPATHTHU

Chamari Athapaththu is the star batter for Sri Lanka-W with a stelar record in WODIs which includes 9 hundreds! She has been in great form in 2024 and has an average of 97 and strike rate of 103 in 6 matches this year!

2. SUGANDIKA KUMARI

Sugandika Kumari is a slow-left arm orthodox spinner who has picked 29 wickets in 34 WODIs at an economy rate of 4.88.

Venue and Pitch

The Civil Service Cricket Club in Stormont in Belfast has hosted just one Women ODI and that was between South Africa Women and Ireland Women way back in 1997. There have been 10 Men's ODIs played at the venue since 2018 with the team batting first winning five of these encounters. The team chasing has won four while one match has been washed out due to rain. The captain who has won the toss has elected to bat first only on three occasions since 2018. The team which has won the toss has won just one solitary match and lost as many as 8 matches for a win probability of 11.1 %.

Head to Head Record

Sri Lanka-W have dominated the Ireland-W and hold a 3-0 record in the head to head.

MATCHES PLAYED - 4

SRI LANKA-W WON - 3

IRELAND-W WON - 0

NO RESULT - 1

MATCH PREDICTION

Sri Lanka start favourites despite the conditions suiting fast bowlers. They have a strong batting line-up and a number of high-class and talented spinners. However, Ireland have been in good form in ODIs and will challenge Sri Lanka in their own backyard. Sri Lanka have a 65% chance of winning.

FANTASY XI

Our fantasy XI includes Nilakshika Silva, Gaby Lewis and Alice Tector as batters and Amy Hunter as the wicket-keeper batter. The all-rounders are Chamari Athapaththu, Kavisha Dilhari, Arlene Kelly, Laura Delany and Orla Prendergast while the bowlers are Kawya Kavindi and Ava Canning. The captain is Athapaththu while the vice-captain is Gaby Lewis.

The backup players are Rebecca Stokell as batter, Ama Kanchana as all-rounder and Freya Sargent as bowler.

Fantasy XI:

Wicketkeeper: Amy Hunter

Batters: Nilakshika Silva, Gaby Lewis (VC), Alice Tector

Allrounders: Chamari Athapaththu (C), Kavisha Dilhari, Arlene Kelly, Laura Delany, Orla Prendergast

Bowlers: Kawya Kavindi, Ava Canning.

BACKUP PLAYERS:

BATTER – Rebecca Stokell

BOWLER – Freya Sargent

ALL-ROUNDER – Ama Kanchana

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