The West Indies took a big step towards reaching the semifinals of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 with a hard-fought five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka.
Some impressive bowling limited Sri Lanka (ICC Ranking: 7) to just 98 all out, as Player of the Match Hayley Matthews impressed, taking the first three wickets of the game in her opening two overs.
She also led a rapid start to their run chase before Stafanie Taylor guided the West Indies (ICC Ranking: 6) home after Sri Lanka’s bowlers put up a stoic fight.
Victory maintains the West Indies’ perfect start to the tournament with three wins from three, leaving them well-placed to qualify from Group B ahead of matches against England and Ireland.
Sri Lanka now face an uphill battle, with one win from their three matches so far.
MAGICAL MATTHEWS CLEANS UP TOP ORDER
Sri Lanka made a difficult start with the bat, as Matthews ripped through the top order to reduce them to nine for three.
Vishmi Gunarathne fell caught and bowled for one inside the first over, before Matthews claimed both Chamari Athapaththu (2) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (0) in the same over.
Sri Lanka sought to rebuild from nine for three through Imesha Dulani and Kavisha Dilhari, but Dulani became the fourth victim of the powerplay when she was dismissed for 17 by Chinelle Henry.
Dilhari (21) and Nilakshika Silva dug in to drag Sri Lanka past 50 before Dilhari and Kaushini Nuthyangana (0) fell within three balls to leave them 58 for six.
Silva continued to try to salvage the Sri Lankan innings with a gutsy 30 off 26, while Kawya Kavindi added 17, but it was not enough as wickets continued to fall around them.
Silva eventually fell to Afy Fletcher before Sugandika Kumari (2) was stumped by Shemaine Campbelle off Karishma Ramharack.
Sri Lanka continued to push as they looked to crest three figures, but Mithali Ayodhya (3) was run out before Kavindi was also stumped by the same Campbelle and Ramharack pairing to leave her side all out for 98.
TAYLOR GUIDES THE WEST INDIES HOME AFTER FAST START
West Indies began their chase in brisk fashion, as Matthews and Deandra Dottin looked to push their net run rate up by scoring quickly from the outset.
Matthews cracked 17 off 17 balls before she was run out by Silva and Dottin fell for 12 from the final ball of the powerplay to Nimasha Meepage, leaving the West Indies 36 for two.
Shemaine Campbelle was next to fall, as Athapaththu struck to dismiss her for four, but West Indies comfortably kept ahead of the required run rate through Jahzara Claxton and Stafanie Taylor.
The pair looked well set at the crease until Dilhari struck twice in three balls, claiming the wickets of Claxton (6) and Chinelle Henry (0) to add some extra nerves as the West Indies looked for the 29 runs they needed with eight overs remaining.
But Taylor continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over and combined well with Jannillea Glasgow to edge the West Indies towards their target.
Taylor duly scored the winning run to finish unbeaten on 27, her second not out score in a row, as the West Indies sealed a five-wicket victory with just under 23 balls to spare.