With the men’s and women’s teams going through lean periods in their cricket, the women’s Under-19 cricketers’ victory in the Pakistan Women’s Under-19 T20 Tri-Series came as a soothing balm to the country’s cricketing fraternity, who have been clamouring for success over the years.
The Sri Lanka U19 women cricketers lost only their first match of the Tri-Series, but after that, they were unstoppable, going on to beat Bangladesh by four runs in a thrilling final to lift the cup.
‘The momentum and credit for the win should go to the players,’ said Sri Lanka U19 Women’s Head Coach Ruvin Peiris. ‘Through sheer hard work, they have got this result. They are the ones who took decisions in the middle and handled the situations, so all credit to them. The win has boosted their confidence levels very high. They understand that if they put in the hard yards, they can beat any side.’
‘We didn’t underestimate the Bangladesh team, because from the very inception of the tournament, we realised that they were a good side. They were a side that had beaten us on previous occasions. We were prepared to face a situation like this in the final,’ added Peiris. ‘The final was a special game. I don’t think the players were under any pressure but in that game, we made the most mistakes, especially in our fielding. We were the best fielding side in the tournament but in the final, we made a lot of mistakes with several catches dropped. They are 16, 17-year-old girls and I believe these mistakes are part of the game. Because of the intensity, there is always room to make mistakes.’
The Tri-Series Peiris said was part of their preparations for the Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in January 2027 in Bangladesh and Nepal.
‘We are playing these matches with an eye on the 2027 U19 Women’s T20 World Cup. For this entire year, we have planned to prepare for it. This process is really good because all these players will be available for selection for the World Cup,’ said Peiris.
Sri Lanka have the Under-19 T20 Asia Cup in early December at a venue yet to be selected, and after that, it will be the Under-19 T20 World Cup. But, in between, Peiris said that Sri Lanka Cricket was looking to slot in another series so that the players will have more international match exposure behind them.
Peiris said the experience they gained from playing in India served them well in the Pakistan Women’s Under-19 T20 Tri-Series. It was Peiris’ first assignment as Head Coach of the Under-19 Women’s team.
Sri Lanka had begun their preparations for the U19 World Cup with a win in the Under-19 Tri-Series in Australia that also involved England.
‘We didn’t have much success on that tour to India, losing both the ODIs and T20Is by 3-0 margins. But the experience we gained from playing against such a strong side helped us win this Tri-Series,’ said Peiris. ‘We corrected most of our shortcomings. From that series, we realised where our cricket stood and that we needed to put in more effort. From there onwards, the girls improved their individual skills.’
‘If you take India, they are a strong side, they are in a different sphere. It was a good experience for us to play India before the World Cup. From that experience, we are developing our cricket and trying to uplift it. Indian cricketers are very much matured because they play about 100 domestic matches in different formats during the year, whereas our girls hardly play even 25. Because they don’t have that match experience, sometimes the girls are unable to handle certain situations in the middle. This is our shortcoming. Sri Lanka Cricket is trying to give the players more matches to overcome this situation,’ he said.
The standout player in the Pakistan Women’s Under-19 T20 Tri-Series was left-handed opening batter Sanjana Kavindi, who won the Player of the Tournament award.
‘If you take the players from all the three teams, Sanjana is someone special. We always prepare her mindset – how she can stay at the crease for a longer period and play her natural game, rather than score quick runs and get out. We prepared her to carry the team and to finish the game and she did it,’ said Peiris.
Apart from Kavindi, the other players who shone with the bat were Vimoksha Balasuriya, Nethmi Upeksha, Limansa Thilakarathna, and Umayangana Peiris, and among the bowlers skipper Chamudi Pramoda, Chamodhi Herath, Limansa Thilakarathna, Danodya Sewmini, and Nethmi Upeksha, who played her role well as a batting all-rounder.
Peiris, a talented left-hand batsman and prolific run scorer in the domestic circuit with over 6,600 first-class runs, was of the view that this present Under-19 side will be the future of Sri Lanka women’s cricket.
‘In another two years’ time, these players will dominate Sri Lanka cricket. The way they are progressing, I am confident that we are in good space because we are improving our bench strength with these players. Three years ago, we didn’t have a bench for selection, but now with these players, there is going to be competition for places in the national women’s cricket team. They have watched how our national cricketers are performing and are improving their game. With the bench getting stronger, women’s cricket is also bound to improve immensely,’ said Peiris, who is a High Performance Centre Coach for the past eight years and has also been involved with the national men’s team and coached several clubs and provincial sides.