Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu wants to execute right plan at the right time to progress into the semifinal, reports ICC.
The Asian side showed their class when they upset reigning T20 World Cup champions New Zealand by five wickets in Southampton on Tuesday, giving themselves an excellent opportunity to reach the knockout semi-finals for the first time in the tournament's history.
She knows her side's best is good enough to beat any team at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup. A result to remember as Sri Lanka secure a first win over New Zealand at ICC Women's T20 World Cup.
Sri Lanka are in contention to progress to the final four in a wide open Group B with matches remaining against West Indies, Scotland and Ireland, though Chamari is fully aware every fixture at the tournament is difficult and the experienced captain is taking nothing for granted going forward.
"Every game is very crucial for us," Chamari said during the post-match interview after the win over New Zealand.
"I know New Zealand are one of the best teams in this comp and they are the world champions and the tournament favourites.
"So we beat New Zealand, but it doesn't mean we can't beat any team in this comp."
A gutsy fifty from Nilakshikha Silva took Sri Lanka home in a crunch encounter against New Zealand at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026.
Perhaps the biggest positive to come out of the victory over New Zealand for Sri Lanka was the all-round performances the side got from every one of their players, with Nilakshika Silva (54*) and Kaushini Nuthyangana (24*) guiding the side across the line with an unbeaten partnership.
It came after Chamari herself managed to score 27 in a quickfire knock during the Powerplay and the Sri Lanka captain said there were plenty of areas for her side to improve on.
"We have to execute our right plan at the right time. That's the most important thing," Chamari added. "As a team, we need to improve a couple of areas, especially batting. We lost a couple of wickets in the middle part of the game and we need to improve our batting and a little bit bowling as well."
