Chamari Athapaththu has had an emotional and cathartic week. The loss to West Indies broke the skipper, for her chances of taking Sri Lanka past the group stage began to fade after a poor batting show. She, a bona fide legend of the game, spoke of being a failure as a captain.

Athapaththu has been in the international circuit for 17 years, her first T20I game coming in 2009. The Sri Lankan has the distinction of featuring in every single edition of the T20 World Cup - 10 in all, and that's why her current predicament brings her 'sadness beyond words'.

"I think I played around 18 years for the national team, I could never get a chance to take my team into a semifinal of a World Cup," she said.

She opened up in this manner on Sunday (June 21), even as her team's World Cup hadn't technically come to an end. On Tuesday (June 23), she showed the world - not for the first time, why she's an absolute star of the game. The Sri Lankan captain smashed a 61-ball 106 against Ireland to keep her team in the tournament, even if only just. Athapaththu exclaimed she was 'still alive' after the ton against Ireland. She'd hope Sri Lanka can echo those sentiments and find their way to the semifinal somehow. But for that to happen, they have a few mathematical hoops to jump over.

The current Group B scenario suggests they need to beat Scotland by a big margin, and then hope England beat New Zealand and West Indies lose to Ireland by enough for Sri Lanka to overtake them on NRR. It's a tall ask, particularly the latter, but for now, Sri Lanka and Athapaththu can only warm their hands by the last flicker of hope, before once again having to reflect on and rue their shortcomings at yet another mega event.

Scotland don't carry that big a burden into Friday's fixture, having already been knocked out. They started the World Cup brightly with a win over Ireland, but couldn't keep up entirely when the heavyweights stood in their way, losing three on the bounce. If there's one message that could perhaps echo through their dressing room ahead of this final fixture, it'll be to finish the tournament as brightly as they began it.

When: Sri Lanka vs Scotland, Group B, Match 25, June 26, 2026, 6:30 PM Local/ 11 PM IST

Where: Emirates Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester

What to expect:The UK MET office has issued an Amber warning for extreme heat in Manchester on the match day. The heat has been unforgiving in the past few days, with exceptionally warm temperatures expected both during the day and at night.

Scotland's only win at the World Cup came in Manchester, while Sri Lanka have not played there yet.

Team News:

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka tweaked their top-order around for the Ireland fixture, with opener Vishmi Gunaratne losing her spot and No.3 batter Imesha Dulani pushing up to open with Athapaththu. Sri Lanka might opt for the same as it helped them get past the demoralising defeat to West Indies with a win.

Probable XI:Chamari Athapaththu (c), Imesha Dulani, Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Hansima Karunaratne, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshika Silva, Kaushani Nuthyangana (wk), Sugandika Kumari, Nimasha Meepage, Mithali Ayodhya

Scotland

Scotland should wrap up their World Cup campaign with the same XI that was fielded in the previous outing against New Zealand, where the pair of Alisa Lister and Racher Slater notably returned after being out due to injury.

Probable XI:Darcey Carter, Katherine Fraser, Kathryn Bryce (c), Sarah Bryce (wk), Ailsa Lister, Pippa Sproul, Priyanaz Chatterji, Kirstie Gordon, Megan McColl, Rachel Slater, Hannah Rainey

Did you know:

- Sri Lanka have won all three games vs Scotland in the format. These two teams are yet to face off in the T20 WC.

- Athapaththu vs Scotland in T20Is: 247 runs in three innings at a strike rate of 172.72

What they said:

"I think, first and foremost, we're probably quite proud [of] how we have held ourselves and how we're really giving a good competition to these big teams. Probably a bit of disappointment that we've maybe not finished the games as well as we would have liked." - Scotland's Darcey Carter

"Last 18 months I didn't score a 100. A lot of blames, a lot of bad comments came to me, but I love those comments because otherwise I won't improve. Sometimes healthy criticism is really good for a cricketer. That's why I played a good game today and I showed my jersey and my name because I said to the others, I'm still alive." - Chamari Athapaththu on her century celebration in the last game against Ireland.