SL Vs NZ Highlights, Women's ODI World Cup 2025: Another Washout In Colombo, Points Shared After Persistent Rain

Hello, we are back with another live blog, covering Sri Lanka Women vs New Zealand Women. Stay tuned for live updates.

The high-octane ICC Women's World Cup 2025 clash between New Zealand vs Sri Lanka will be live-streamed on JioHotstar. Simultaneously, the SA-W vs BAN-W match will be telecast on the Star Sports Network.

Sri Lanka Women have won the toss and have opted to bat first against New Zealand.

New Zealand Women (Playing XI): Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine(c), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze(w), Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Bree Illing, Eden Carson

Sri Lanka Women (Playing XI): Hasini Perera, Chamari Athapaththu(c), Vishmi Gunaratne, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani(w), Piumi Wathsala Badalge, Sugandika Kumari, Malki Madara, Inoka Ranaweera

Bree Illing starts the attack for her team, and Vishmi Gunaratne opens the batting alongside Chamari Athapaththu. On the very first ball, Gunaratne nudges a delivery angled onto her pads down to fine leg for a single, showing ease and timing even while batting out of her crease. The stage is set as the two batters look to build a solid opening partnership.

Rosemary Mair starts to settle into her rhythm, but the first few deliveries are comfortably handled by Chamari Athapaththu. A slanted ball across the left-hander is left alone, while the next delivery drifts too wide outside off, giving Athapaththu an easy wide. The batter remains composed, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

Bree Illing strays full outside off, and Chamari Athapaththu makes her pay! She drives it beautifully square of the wicket for four, looking in prime touch today and even holding her follow-through for the cameras.

Amelia Kerr floats one up on off, and Vishmi Gunaratne deftly halves the block to square leg for no run. The next delivery, punched nicely to deep square leg, brings her a couple of runs as she looks to rotate the strike.

Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athathapathu gets to her first half-century of the ICC Women's ODI World Cup 2025. She is stitching a great partnership with fellow opener Gunaratne

Following a decent start, Sri Lanka have slowed down a bit as they near towards 150.

Following the departures of the openers, top-order batters Hasini Perera and Harshitha Samarawickrama have taken charge and are approaching the 200-mark.

After a brief partnership between Perera and Samarawickrama, the White Ferns picked up back-to-back wickets, removing Samarawickrama and then Kavisha Dilhari.

Sri Lanka are down to 6 wickets with just 2 overs to go. Nilakshika de Silva has found her rhythm and she will look to take the team's total beyond 250. It will be an exciting end to the 1st innings.

A superb ending to the first innings from Nilakshika Silva, who smashed three back-to-back boundaries to reach the fastest half-century in this year's World Cup from 26 deliveries. Sri Lanka cross the 250-mark, and it's a very competitive target that they have set for NZ-W to chase.

The rain has started to fall at the R. Premadasa Stadium, and the covers have come on to cover almost the entirety of the pitch. This will not be good news for the teams. Hopefully, it will subside soon.

The rain has finally begun to ease at the stadium, and there's a buzz of anticipation in the air. Groundstaff are now gathering around the covers, ready to spring into action.

Just when it seemed like the skies were clearing, the rain has picked up once more, a frustrating twist for both teams and fans alike. The groundstaff have retreated, covers are firmly back in place, and the umpires look increasingly concerned. Time is now a factor, and with every passing minute, we're edging closer to a reduction in overs.

Good news, the rain has stopped once again, and there's movement out in the middle. One of the umpires is now standing on the covers, carefully observing the groundstaff as they begin the process of removing the sheets. There's still a buzz of urgency in the air, as everyone knows 9:50 PM is the cut-off to get a 20-over chase underway.

Drama continues at the ground! Most of the covers had been peeled off and just one remained, with the groundstaff even rolling a mini-supersopper over it, hopes were high for a restart. But just as the final stretch neared, the rain made an untimely return. It’s only a light drizzle for now, but enough to force the groundstaff to scramble and rush the covers back on.

Rain has the final word yet again in Colombo as another game is abandoned without a result, forcing the two teams to share points after persistent showers made play impossible despite the best efforts of the groundsmen. This is now the second no-result of the tournament, both occurring at the same venue. Sri Lanka move to two points, both courtesy of rain, while New Zealand climb to three, missing out on what could have been a challenging chase had the weather allowed. Continuous rain across two separate spells never gave the officials a chance to even consider a restart, leaving players, fans, and broadcasters equally frustrated. The captains shook hands to confirm the inevitable outcome, and as the rain continues to fall, all eyes now turn to tomorrow’s fixture in Colombo, fingers crossed for better weather.