ICC Women’s ODI WC 2025: New Zealand Aims To Keep Winning Momentum Against Co-Hosts Sri Lanka.

In Match 15 of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025, we will see New Zealand lock horns with co-hosts Sri Lanka at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. This match is taking place on 14th October 2025 at 3 PM IST. Important two points up for grabs for both teams. Both teams come into this game with contrasting fortunes. New Zealand lost their first two games before beating Bangladesh in their last clash while Sri Lanka lost their last game to England and have only one point from 3 games.

Both Sri Lanka and New Zealand haven’t been at their best yet and needs to make a move. New Zealand currently is in 5th place with 2 points while Sri Lanka is in 7th place with a solitary point. Every game is important from here as teams are jostling for positions to climb upwards in the points table. It is needless to say both needs a win to stay in the hunt for the semi-final race and it is Sri Lanka who needs it more than New Zealand at this stage. But neither can afford a loss here.

Overview. 

The stage is set for what promises to be an interesting battle at the Premadasa Stadium as two teams who are yet to kickstart their campaign properly aim to get points and stay in the hunt for top 4 race. New Zealand were thumped by Australia and South Africa in their first two games but they bounced back in style to beat Bangladesh by 100 runs to kickstart their campaign. Sophie Devine the captain has been the standout performer for them but she got good help from Brooke Halliday in the previous game.

Winning the toss and deciding to bat first in Guwahati, New Zealand got off to a steady start courtesy of Suzie Bates’ 29 before she was run out and then they lost a few quick wickets to be 38/3 at one stage and in a spot of bother. From here, once again their captain Sophie Devine stood up and dropped anchor to score yet another half-century and was assisted by Brooke Halliday who scored an impressive 69 as the duo shared an impressive 112-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Thereafter, cameos from the lower order meant that New Zealand got to a competitive 227/9 in 50 overs which was always going to be above par against Bangladesh. Then while defending the score, the New Zealand fast bowlers stepped up to the plate. Jess Kerr and Lea Tahuhu picked up 3 wickets apiece while Rosemary Mair playing her first game picked up 2 wickets as New Zealand managed to skittle Bangladesh out for 127 in the 40th over to win by 100 runs and improve their Net Run Rate as well. New Zealand now have two back-to-back games in Colombo against Sri Lanka and Pakistan and must win those to remain in contention because they have India and England as their last two games.

Their opponents Sri Lanka started their campaign with a loss to India in the tournament opener in Guwahati before their second game against Australia was washed out due to rain. They then faced England in their last game and were good in patches, but could not finish the job and lost by a comprehensive margin. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl under overcast conditions and got the openers inside the powerplay as Amy Jones was run out and Tammy Beaumont fell as well.

It was the Nat Sciver-Brunt show as the England captain who was dropped on 3 by Udeshika Prabodhani off Inoka Ranaweera made the Lankans pay with her brilliant 117 off 117 balls as she held the innings together with other players playing around her. Heather Knight, Charlie Dean, Alice Capsey played around her as England managed to post 253/9 which was always going to be a par score if not above par in spinning conditions in Colombo. Inoka Ranaweera got 3/33 in 10 overs and was the standout with the ball for Sri Lanka.

In reply, Sri Lanka got off to a decent start with Hasini Perera scoring 35 and Harshitha Samarawickrama scoring 33. Chamari retired hurt due to calf issues but came back to bat but made only 15. Nilakshi de Silva made 23 but they never got going after a decent start at the top. The middle and lower middle order collapsed to be 164 all out in 45.4 overs. Sophie Ecclestone was too hot to handle as she picked up 4/17 in 10 overs while captain Nat Sciver-Brunt chipped in with 2/25 in 5 overs and Charlie Dean got a couple of wickets as well.

Sri Lanka will be desperate to win in front of their home ground while New Zealand will want to win these two winnable games in Colombo starting with the clash against Sri Lanka as important two points are up for grabs. So, the stage is set for an epic battle in Colombo.

Head-To-Head. 

New Zealand and Sri Lanka have played against each other in 16 games with New Zealand winning 13 off them while Sri Lanka won 2 games. One game ended in a No Result. In the last 10 clashes, it is 8-2 in New Zealand’s favour with Sri Lanka last winning in 2023 in a rain affected game. But New Zealand got the better of them in New Zealand winning both the matches earlier this year in 2025.

Pitch & Weather Report. 

The pitch at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo is expected to be a decent track offering early support to the batters with spinners becoming more effective later on. The average first innings score here is 229. Chasing teams have won 50% of the time.

The temperature in Colombo on October 14th  2025 will be somewhere between 26 and 30 degrees Celsius. There is partly cloudy skies with a wind speed of 5-10 km/hr and a 40% chance of rain. We are still expecting a full match to go ahead though despite the predictions.

Predicted/Possible Playing XIs of both sides. 

Here, we will predict the possible playing XIs of both sides.

Sri Lanka XI: Hasini Perera, Chamari Athapaththu (c), Harshitha Samarawickrama, Vishmi Gunaratne, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Dewmi Vihanga, Sugandika Kumari, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoka Ranaweera.

New Zealand XI: Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine (c), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze (wk), Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Lea Tahuhu, Eden Carson.

Key Players to watch out for in this clash. 

Chamari Athapaththu: Whenever we talk about Sri Lanka, one name comes to mind all the time and that is of Chamari Athapaththu. Chamari has had a hot and cold tournament so far and hasn’t set the tournament on fire. But she has an excellent record against New Zealand and will be keen to do well in this clash. Batting at the top, she will hope to give her team a fast start and see how things progress from there. It is high time she fires for Sri Lanka to do well.

Inoka Ranaweera: Inoka Ranaweera has been the standout bowlers for Sri Lanka in this tournament. After picking 4 wickets against India in Guwahati, she followed that up with a 3-wicket haul against England in Colombo as their game against Australia was washed out. She is an experienced campaigner and will be expected to do wonders in the middle overs and take wickets at regular intervals. She will be determined to do well and help her side get off the mark in this World Cup.

Sophie Devine: Miss Consistent and captain of New Zealand Sophie Devine has been doing the heavy lifting for New Zealand. She scored a hundred against Australia and then followed it up with back-to-back half-centuries against South Africa and Bangladesh. She is holding the innings together and saving New Zealand from collapses. She will be keen to do well with the bat and if possible chip in with the ball as she is a proper all-rounder for the New Zealand side and the captain who is truly leading from the front.

Lea Tahuhu: Experienced campaigner Lea Tahuhu plays an important role for New Zealand as she now bowls with the old ball. With the new ball bowlers doing their job, Tahuhu is someone who comes later on and bowls in the middle phase and in the death. She did a decent job against Bangladesh picking up 3 important wickets and will be keen to do well in Colombo to keep her side ahead in the contest. She is one of the key members of the White Ferns set-up for sure.

Key Stats/Records to watch out for ahead of today’s clash. 

• Chamari Athapaththu needs 65 runs to reach 4000 ODI runs and 4 wickets to reach 50 ODI wickets.
• Nilakshi de Silva needs 1 run to complete 1000 ODI runs.
• Hasini Perera requires 97 runs to reach 1000 ODI runs.
• Suzie Bates needs 75 runs to become only the second woman after Mithali Raj to reach 6000 ODI runs.
• Maddy Green needs 2 fours to complete 150 ODI fours.
• Brooke Halliday needs 5 fours to complete 100 ODI fours.
• Georgia Plimmer requires 69 runs to reach 500 ODI runs.
• Amelia Kerr who has 104 wickets needs 4 more wickets to surpass Sophie Devine who has 107 wickets and become New Zealand’s second-highest ODI wicket-taker, behind Lea Tahuhu who has 122 wickets at the moment.

Predicted/Possible Outcome of the Match. 

It’s a crucial match for both teams as important points are up for grabs. We expect a close contest between these two teams. But taking everything into consideration, form and stuff we reckon New Zealand to be slight favourites. Sri Lanka may trouble them with their spinners and all. But The White Ferns will find a way to win this and keep their semi-final hopes alive.

Let’s see how things pan out later today in Colombo.

Also Read: ICC Women’s ODI WC 2025: 3 Reasons For India’s Nerve-Wreckening Loss To Australia