Women's T20 World Cup: West Indies grind out 5-wicket win in tense chase vs Sri Lanka

West Indies continued their winning run in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, with a five-wicket victory against Sri Lanka on Sunday, June 21 at County Ground, Bristol. After being asked to bat first, Sri Lanka were blown away by West Indies’ bowling attack as they were bundled out for just 98 in 19.4 overs.

Captain Hayley Matthews led from the front with a three-wicket haul, while Karishma Ramharack (2/15, 2.4 overs) also chipped in with two wickets. In reply, Sri Lanka put up a lion-hearted effort with the ball as they made West Indies labour in their run chase.

However, the experienced head of Stafanie Taylor (27* off 25) got them over the line in 16.1 overs. Kavisha Dilhari (2/22) emerged as the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka, while Nimasha Meepage (1/18, 3 overs) and Chamari Athapaththu (1/13, 3 overs) also chipped in with one wicket each.

Meanwhile, following their win, West Indies are comfortably placed at the second spot in the Group B points table, while Sri Lanka slipped to fifth spot.

Top run-scorer of the Match

Top wicket-taker of the Match

Player of the Match

Hayley Matthews was adjudged Player of the Match for her terrific performance. She ran through the Sri Lankan top order, dismissing Vishmi Gunaratne (1 off 4), Chamari Athapaththu (2 off 6) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (0 off 3), to leave them reeling at 9/3 inside the first three overs. She registered figures of 3/15 in four overs and later made a decent contribution of 17 (17) in the run chase.

Turning Point

Sri Lanka were sloppy in the field again as they again let go of several chances. First, wicketkeeper Kaushani Nuthyangana dropped a difficult chance of Shemaine Campbelle, while she was on a duck. Later, Harshitha Samarawickrama dropped Jahzara Claxton at point in the ninth over.

Apart from that, Sri Lanka gave away a whopping 23 extra runs through wides and byes, which eased things in the middle for West Indies in their run chase.

What did the captains say:

Winning Captain, Hayley Matthews (West Indies women):

[On winning the toss and bowling first] I think it was a crucial toss for sure. We definitely felt like we had a bit of tennis ball bounce early on. So yeah, really good that we got to go to the ball and take advantage of that. [On bringing in Munisar and the tactical decision to play an extra spinner] I think a bit of the tactical awareness against a team like Sri Lanka, but also certainly feel like we have enough batters down the line. And I guess having that extra spinner could have really made a difference, which sure today. [On losing wickets during the chase and whether there was pressure in the camp] Certainly no pressure. We were at 36 after six overs. We’re right on top of the game. Stafanie at the crease and we had players like Alleyne still to come in as well. So I don’t think we had any nerves at any point in time. Probably would have liked to chase it down a bit more convincingly, but I think chasing totals like that can always be a bit tricky. But at the same time, like I said earlier, I certainly feel like our batters are going to have opportunities to peak at the right time. And what’s really important is that we’re winning matches right now. [On her career-best T20 World Cup figures of 3 for 15 and bowling in the powerplay] It was really crucial for us to get some early wickets. We know Sri Lanka’s really big batters are the ones at the top of the order with their two left-handers at Chamari and the other one as well. So, yeah, I think for us, we just really wanted to get some early wickets and it gave me the flexibility to be able to go hard in the power play and bowl a few overs with Munisar coming in as well. [On West Indies winning three matches from three] It puts us in a really good place. You know, going into the next match against England, I think we’ve got high confidence. But yeah, I certainly feel like if we can win one more game here, it gets us into the semifinals. So, yeah, a lot of confidence going into the next two matches, but still just want to take it one game at a time.

Losing Captain, Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka women):

[On Sri Lanka’s batting performance and the total they managed] The wicket is a little bit sticky today and the ball a little bit and the tennis ball bounce, so I feel the West Indies bowling according to their plans and according to their condition. Yeah, we have not executed our plans in the power play. We lost a couple of wickets early and throughout the game we struggled as a batting unit. So I feel we need, if we, we have to score 140 plus, otherwise we can’t defend against this West Indies team. But unfortunately, we lost a couple of wickets and we struggled a lot in the middle. [On the bowling effort] Yeah, definitely our bowlers bowled in right line and length, but some extras also given there, so, but the thing is, the 100 is not enough to defend. So we need to score more runs, otherwise we can’t blame the bowlers. [On the positives from the match] So definitely our bowling department done a really good job for us, but we need to improve our batting before next game.