Niluka Karunaratne among three new faces in SL squad

Sri Lanka Cricket have announced a 14-member squad for the women's tour of South Africa, scheduled to begin on October 24. Niluka Karunaratne, 34, is among three players who could make their debuts during the limited-overs series featuring three ODIs and T20s apiece. Karunaratne, a right-arm offspinner, was one of the stand-by players for West Indies' tour of Sri Lanka earlier in March and has taken 11 wickets in her last 10 domestic one-day matches. She joins Nobet Ida, who bolsters the seam bowling department, while Rebeca Vandort was chosen as cover for wicketkeeper Dilani Manodara.

The squad, captained by Shashikala Siriwardene, will play a practice match against a South African emerging players XI on October 22, before the first ODI. The first of the three T20s is scheduled on October 31 and the series will continue till November 3.

Sandamali Dolawatte, Oshadi Ranasinghe and Inoka Ranaweera, who held a place in the main squad over the last two limited-overs tournaments, are slotted among the stand-by players.

Sri Lanka's last T20 series was the World T20 qualifier in Dublin, played in August, where they shared the title with Pakistan after the final was marred by rain. Before that, they had lost a three-match ODI and five-match T20 series to West Indies.

Sri Lanka Women's squad:1 Shashikala Siriwardane (capt), 2 Eshani Lokusuriyage, 3 Chamari Atapattu, 4 Yasoda Mendis, 5 Deepika Rasangika, 6 Dilani Manodara (wk), 7 Niluka Karunaratne, 8 Sripali Weerakkodi, 9 Udeshika Prabodhani, 10 Chamani Seneviratna, 11 Maduri Samuddika, 12 Nobet Ida, 13 Chandima Gunaratne, 14 Rebeca Vandort

Stand-by: 1 Sandamali Dolawatte, 2 Lasanthi Madushani, 3 Oshadi Ranasinghe, 4 Inoka Ranaweera