England suffer shock 10-wicket Sri Lanka defeat in final women's T20 World Cup warm up match
England's preparations for the Women's T20 World Cup suffered a setback as they lost by 10 wickets to Sri Lanka in their final warm-up match.
Ahead of their group-stage opener against South Africa on Sunday, England were out of sorts and slumped to a heavy defeat at the Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide.
Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont both managed to hit 23 but that was the best any England batter could muster as they lost five wickets for 36 runs to eventually post a below-par total of 122 for nine.
Sri Lanka made light work of the target, captain Chamari Atapattu starring with a fine 78 not out off just 50 balls and her opening partner Hasini Madushika finished unbeaten on 29.
"It was a disappointing performance, but I'd rather we got it out of the way ahead of the World Cup," said Knight.
"Their spinners bowled well and drove it into the pitch and we probably didn't adapt to that quick enough, and when you add in a few run-outs it gets more difficult.
"Chamari batted really well for Sri Lanka and she just took the game away from us. It might give us a little kick up the backside, which might not be a bad thing."
Defending champions and hosts Australia open the World Cup against India in Sydney on Friday, with England first in action two days later.
As well as South Africa, Heather Knight's side will come up against the West Indies, Pakistan and Thailand in Group B as they look to secure one of the two qualification berths into the latter stages.
England's T20 World Cup fixtures
