3pm: It’s looking bright and sunny – and possibly quite humid – at the ground now, so fingers crossed we’ve seen the worst of the weather for today. The teams are milling around by the boundary, Sri Lanka presumably itching to get back out there after almost two weeks without any game time. Just 15 minutes until we get going, which means it’s time to welcome Madushka into the comms seat
“So SL is going spin heavy in overcast conditions?” chunters Surath. “Only Udeshika is the medium-pacer? And deciding to put England to bat?? Oh boy… Recipe for disaster “
“No S Glenn in the team again. Is she injured?” No, just overlooked as England favour their trio of fingerspinners, Anthony Black
“‘Hot tarpaulin action’ beats ‘hot drying action because there’s one tiny little wet patch on the outfield that has to be dry before play can resume!'” Any day of the week, Walt
2.45pm: Sri Lanka win the toss and bowl, Athapaththu says she is “confident about our bowling unit, and the pitch is good for spin”. She reckons keeping England to 200-240 would be a success – and if there are any rain interruptions, they’ll be the right side of DLS when chasing. One change to the SL XI, with Dewmi Vihanga coming in for Achini Kulasuriya. Nat Sciver-Brunt is happy enough, meanwhile, as she wanted to bat anyway. “The idea was to bat first and across the day it will hopefully get a bit slower, and our spinners will come into the game.” England are unchanged once again
England: 1 Tammy Beaumont, 2 Amy Jones (wk), 3 Heather Knight, 4 Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), 5 Sophia Dunkley, 6 Emma Lamb, 7 Alice Capsey, 8 Charlie Dean, 9 Sophie Ecclestone, 10 Linsey Smith, 11 Lauren Bell
Sri Lanka: Chamari Athapaththu (capt), 2 Hasini Perera, 3 Harshitha Samarawickrama, 4 Vishmi Gunaratne, 5 Kavisha Dilhari, 6 Nilakshika de Silva, 7 Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), 8 Dewmi Vihanga, 9 Sugandika Kumari, 10 Inoka Ranaweera, 11 Udeshika Pabodani
2.31pm: I see clear skies above the R Premadasa… although that hasn’t prevented a delay to the toss! We’re going to wait another 15 minutes for that, due to the aftereffects of a shower. So toss at 2.45pm, game to begin at 3.15pm. What did I say about things getting done on time in Colombo?
“I am confused by your reports. Is it drizzling, sunny or cloudy in Colombo? All this points to a day where seamers will have the upper hand and low totals (weather permitting) will rule the roost!” I’m confused too, Omar Nawaz. But I’m willing to bet that at some point today, we’ll see the beautiful sight of a completely covered ground #haulin’tarpaulin #rainwatch #SriLankansdoitbetter
2.20pm: “Incredibly, the only spot of blue sky in the city seems to be over the stadium,” reports Fidel. “On track for prompt toss. Some dark clouds around though.” Don’t go anywhere, people. I can sense some hot tarpaulin action coming…
2.15pm: Madushka Balasuriya is also on the beat for us today – he’s been sending me some grim footage of the skies – and was on hand to hear from both sides in the build-up. Sri Lanka have only ever beaten England once in women’s ODIs, a memorable upset at the 2013 World Cup, but their head coach, Rumesh Ratnayake, wants them to focus on the challenge in hand, in particular calling for “patience and discipline” from the batting. Chamari Athapaththu will likely be key to their chances, although Tammy Beaumont said England would not be treating Sri Lanka as a one-woman team. They know they will need to graft for runs on what could be a tricky surface – but have a fine example to look to after Heather Knight’s matchwinning knock against Bangladesh earlier in the week
Here’s Neal, landing them on a perfect length from the get-go: “Trial by spin at Khettarama, you say? Sounds gripping (geddit!)”
And it feels like Asanka has seen this script before: “There was not a drop rain since washed out game, and today we have rain. Sky shows no mercy.”
2pm: Hello folks and welcome to Colombo, The City That Never Gets Anywhere On Time, But That’s Okay Because They’re All Lovely People. We’re gearing up for match 12 of the Women’s World Cup, with England readying themselves for a trial by spin at Khettarama. England have won two from two, while Sri Lanka have just a point from a washout – this should be their third game, but they haven’t played since the tournament opener on September 30. We’re hoping to escape the rain today, but as ever the forecast is a little dicey. Fidel Fernando is approaching the ground (he might even get there for the toss) and says it’s “just a light drizzle”. We’ll see… For now, get yourself a helping of our preview and settle in for further updates
