Sri Lanka Women vs Pakistan Women ODI 2026: Schedule, Squads, TV and Streaming Guide

Originally published: 23 July 2026, 10:42 IST · Updated: 31 July 2026, 08:00 IST · Reading time: 8 min

Hambantota hosted the ODI leg of a full white-ball tour

The three-match women's ODI series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan ran from Thursday 23 July 2026 through Tuesday 28 July 2026 at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota. All three matches began at 10:00 AM IST, a start time kept consistent across the series so touring broadcast partners could plan their day around the fixture window. The ODI leg formed the first half of a longer white-ball tour, with a three-match T20I series scheduled at the same venue on 31 July, 2 August and 4 August 2026.

For the visitors, the tour carried extra competitive weight. Each of the three ODIs counted toward the ICC Women's Championship 2025-29 cycle, the qualification pathway that decides which teams progress to the next 50-over World Cup. Sri Lanka entered the series sitting third on the championship table with eight points from six matches, having sealed a 2-1 ODI series win over Bangladesh earlier in the summer. Pakistan, by contrast, arrived in Hambantota outside the top tier and needed points on a surface that has historically rewarded patient batting and disciplined spin.

Series essentials at a glance

Match schedule and start times

Fixtures were spaced at roughly two-day intervals so teams could travel, recover and prepare without an unreasonable turnaround between matches. The 10:00 AM IST start was chosen to suit the Hambantota climate and the broadcast windows for subcontinental partners.

The 25 July fixture in the middle of the series sat on a rest day in the original calendar and was kept in place after the tour operators confirmed recovery and broadcast logistics. The longer break before the third ODI on 28 July gave both sides a clean training block before the final match of the 50-over leg.

Sri Lanka squad: Athapaththu leads, Gunaratne and Sanjeewani return

Sri Lanka named a 15-player squad under captain Chamari Athapaththu. The headline selection calls were the recalls of opening batter Vishmi Gunaratne and wicketkeeper Anushka Sanjeewani, both of whom had missed the Bangladesh series earlier in the summer. The coaching staff framed the returns as continuity choices rather than changes, pointing to the pair's familiarity with the Hambantota surface and the need for a settled top-order combination heading into the T20I leg.

Athapaththu's own role continued to span captaincy, top-order batting and part-time off-spin, the same workload she has carried since taking over the side. The supporting cast retained the spin-bowling depth that has defined Sri Lanka's home ODI cricket, with the slow bowlers expected to bowl the bulk of the overs in middle and middle-late phases on a surface that grips as the day progresses.

Pakistan squad: Fatima Sana leads, Muneeba Ali in line for T20Is

Pakistan were captained by all-rounder Fatima Sana, who arrived in Hambantota on the back of a standout T20 World Cup campaign in which she was named in the Team of the Tournament for taking 11 wickets and scoring 85 runs. Her workload as a seam-bowling all-rounder made her the most-capped player in the squad and the focal point of Pakistan's ODI plans.

The Pakistan Cricket Board also named uncapped players Maham Anees and Saira Jabeen in the touring party, opening up international debuts depending on selection. Both were identified as batting depth options rather than frontline bowlers, which gave the think-tank room to manage Fatima Sana's overs across the three ODIs.

Muneeba Ali was named to lead the T20I leg of the tour, with Fatima Sana scheduled to travel to England immediately after the ODI series to become the first Pakistani woman to play in The Hundred. The split-captaincy arrangement was confirmed by the PCB as part of a workload plan that kept both players fresh for their respective assignments.

TV and streaming: where each broadcast market watched

The broadcast distribution was split cleanly across the three host markets, with no single linear broadcaster carrying the series into India. The result was a streaming-first delivery on the subcontinent, with traditional TV carriage in Pakistan and Sri Lanka through established rights partners.

For Indian viewers, the absence of a linear broadcast made FanCode the only first-party live option. ThePapare's dedicated women's cricket channels on Dialog TV carried the series for Sri Lankan audiences, while Pakistani viewers watched on A Sports HD. International viewers without a domestic rights partner relied on aggregated ICC digital feeds where licensing arrangements applied.

ICC Women's Championship context

Because all three ODIs counted toward the ICC Women's Championship 2025-29 cycle, the series carried direct qualification weight. The championship functions as the women's game's primary 50-over qualification pathway, with the top sides progressing toward the next ODI World Cup. Going into the series, Sri Lanka sat third on eight points from six matches after a 2-1 result against Bangladesh. Pakistan's position was less settled and the tour offered a chance to claw back ground on a tour where conditions were not in their favour.

The point structure rewards series wins more heavily than individual match results, which shaped selection thinking on both sides. Squads were picked with three-game conditioning in mind rather than to peak for any single fixture. The longer break between the second and third ODIs was particularly relevant for Pakistan, who used the gap to plan around Fatima Sana's impending travel to England for The Hundred.

The T20I leg that followed

The ODI leg was the foundation of a six-match white-ball tour. Three T20Is were scheduled on 31 July, 2 August and 4 August 2026, all at the same Mahinda Rajapaksa venue in Hambantota. Muneeba Ali took over the captaincy for the T20I leg while Fatima Sana departed for England, where she was set to become the first Pakistani woman to play in The Hundred.

The split-captaincy reflected a workload plan designed to keep both players available for their respective competitions rather than asking either to juggle two simultaneous elite-level commitments. For Sri Lanka, the T20I leg offered Athapaththu a chance to test combinations ahead of the next ICC Women's T20 World Cup cycle without the long-form considerations that shaped ODI selection.

What the series said about the road to the next World Cup

The Hambantota series sat at the mid-point of the 2025-29 championship cycle, with both sides using the tour as a measurement tool rather than a final reckoning. Sri Lanka's third-place standing after the Bangladesh win gave them a buffer to absorb a poor series, but the home conditions and the recalled top-order suggested a side trying to consolidate rather than rebuild. Pakistan's position demanded a more aggressive return, with the new caps and the Fatima Sana workload plan framed around squeezing maximum output from a six-week international block.

For fantasy players tracking the women's game ahead of next year's T20 World Cup, the more useful signals came from the squad-shape choices rather than the headline scoreline. The recall of Gunaratne and Sanjeewani pointed to a settled Sri Lanka top order; the Muneeba Ali-Fatima Sana split pointed to a Pakistan side managing its stars across formats. Both signals will inform selection thinking on the WinCome News desk through the rest of the 2026 calendar.

Frequently asked questions

For ongoing coverage of women's ODI and T20I cricket, the broader ICC Women's Championship calendar, and squad updates across formats, follow the WinCome News desk.