Hayley Matthews impressed as her team moved closer to a T20 World Cup semi-final berth
The West Indies have set up a showdown of unbeaten sides with England in the T20 World Cup after labouring past Sri Lanka by five wickets in Bristol on Sunday.
Put into bat first, Sri Lanka were bowled out for a paltry 98 and the West Indies made tricky work of the chase, overhauling their target in the 17th over.
West Indies captain Hayley Matthews (3-15) won the toss, chose to bowl first on a spinners’ pitch, and removed both openers Vishmi Gunaratne (1) and Chamari Athapaththu (2) and No.4 Harshitha Samarawickrama in her first two overs to have Sri Lanka 3-9.
Struggling at 4-23 at the end of the Powerplay, Nilakshika Silva boosted Sri Lanka with 30, but after she was dismissed by Afy Fletcher, they went six overs without a boundary.
In the chase, Deandra Dottin should have been run out in the first over but after getting a reprieve, hit two boundaries before she was caught off the bowling of Nimesha Madushani for 12.
Matthews ran herself out on 17, and while Sri Lanka fought back taking 3-16 to put some pressure on their rivals, Stafanie Taylor (27no off 25) continued her impressive run since being recalled to the XI to see them home in the 18th over.
The next highest contributor to the Windies’ total after Taylor was the extras column – which stood at 23 including 13 wides and eight byes – emphasising a disappointing all-round day for Sri Lanka who know face an uphill battle to qualify for semi-finals.
The West Indies have now joined England on three wins, with the teams to meet on Wednesday at Lord’s.
ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 standings
Round 1
Group 1
Team
Matches played
M
Wins
W
Losses
L
Ties
T
Drawn
D
No results
N/R
Net Run Rate
NRR
Deductions
Ded.
Batting Bonus
Bat
Bowling Bonus
Bowl
Total points
PTS
1
AUS
3
3
0
0
0
0
4.391
0
0
0
6
2
IND
3
2
1
0
0
0
2.511
0
0
0
4
3
SA
3
2
1
0
0
0
-0.546
0
0
0
4
4
BAN
3
2
1
0
0
0
-0.641
0
0
0
4
5
PAK
3
0
3
0
0
0
-1.857
0
0
0
0
6
NED
3
0
3
0
0
0
-3.384
0
0
0
0
Legend
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
D: Drawn
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
Bat: Batting Bonus
Bowl: Bowling Bonus
PTS: Total points
Group 2
Team
Matches played
M
Wins
W
Losses
L
Ties
T
Drawn
D
No results
N/R
Net Run Rate
NRR
Deductions
Ded.
Batting Bonus
Bat
Bowling Bonus
Bowl
Total points
PTS
1
ENG
3
3
0
0
0
0
2.49
0
0
0
6
2
WI
3
3
0
0
0
0
0.644
0
0
0
6
3
NZ
3
1
2
0
0
0
-0.063
0
0
0
2
4
SCO
3
1
2
0
0
0
-0.083
0
0
0
2
5
SL
3
1
2
0
0
0
-1.913
0
0
0
2
6
IRE
3
0
3
0
0
0
-1.054
0
0
0
0
Legend
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
D: Drawn
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
Bat: Batting Bonus
Bowl: Bowling Bonus
PTS: Total points
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