Right then. Both these teams' semi-final hopes are still not completely diminished. New Zealand have Pakistan, India and England next. Sri Lanka have South Africa, Bangladesh and Pakistan to go. Hopes are high. Will the weather permit? That's all we have for tonight. Hope for no or lesser rain tomorrow as England and Pakistan play at this very venue. Do join us for our coverage. From all of us at ESPNcricinfo, good night and take care!

9:21pm Sophie Devine: "Sri Lanka batted well. There is a theme that if you have wickets in the back end you can exploit that. They probably got a few more runs that we would have liked. Shame the weather kept us off, we were excited for the chase. Stats and numbers can only go that far. Sometimes it is about gut. Really about manipulating match-ups. Another experience and opportunity for our bowlers to go out there against Sri Lanka. It is about re-adjusting and moving on. I only bowled one over the other day. I have got myself to blame. I see where I fit among the rest of the group. We have got so much variety. Idea was to bowl stump to stump and try to contain them. Squeezing a bit of dots was vital. We will review half the game we played and come up with plans."

Chamari Athapaththu: "We assessed the conditions and played good cricket. Happy about our batting performance. We can't control those things. Three games left, we will focus on what we can do. Gunaratne is our No. 1 opener. But last six months she struggled, that's why she moved to No. 4. Again we spoke to the selector and team management and she was back to her normal batting position with me. Nilakshi is one our good and experienced players. She played well today as well. That score was good to defend. We missed another 20-25 runs, but it was defendable. I told my bowlers to attack the stumps and not to try too many things. Next game is crucial. We need to win three games. Hope we can play without any rain."

9:15pm It's official. The game has been called off. Devine and Athapaththu shake hands. Such a shame. Sri Lanka would have felt they had a good shot at taking two points in. New Zealand would not have minded a shortened chase. A second washout takes Sri Lanka to two points, while New Zealand stay fifth with three points. Have to feel for Nilakshika, whose superb innings proved to be the difference between a 200 and the 258 that Sri Lanka eventually finished with.

9:05pm Pouring down. That is the official word. Nasser Hussain ended the broadcast by saying, "Things don't look promising from the Premadasa." We wait for the official word. 9:50pm is the cut-off for the start of a 20-over chase, where New Zealand's target would be 158. All that is far for now...

8.45pm We have a restart time! Play will begin at 9.15pm, with the game reduced to 30 overs. It's started drizzling again, covers are coming back on. As you were.

KiwiTiger: "Nah I say it still favors NZ-W as the added moisture means both a cooler and a bit dewy-er outfield with a humid wicket both negating the spin threat, all they have to do is to play the new ball to its merit and chip in from then on"

8.25pm Looks like we're edging towards a restart (provided rain stays away), with the umpires inspecting some wet patches and the run-up areas.

Akram with presumably accurate math: "@Nirban : 151 is the target for a 20 over game"

aj bringing in the positive sauce: "Why is everyone whinging before the sausage has been made? I'm at the ground, it's dry, staff are working hard, forecast is decent... Sl can defend 20 overs. Let's go"

PM01: "No, the shorter the game the better for SL-W as per my math is the game shortens to 30 overs , target should be around 200-205. Which is more than 6rpo. "

tara: "You have to really feel for SL. This was an excellent performance. They were lucky to take a point off Aus, but here they have a real chance of winning. To share points would be so frustrating"

Nirban: "The shorter the game, the greater the chances for the White Ferns... What will be the revised target for a 20 over chase?" --- Math beyond my pay grade, Nirban. But yes the game state in case of a reduced game generally favours the chasing side - particularly here as it would negate a fair bit of Sri Lanka's spin threat.

8.06pm The pitch is now uncovered, which is something I guess. "More uncovering going on," notes Fidel.

8.01pm So the latest time for a restart is 9.50pm, a little under two hours from now.

7:57pm The rain has stopped but the covers are still on, Fidel informs.

7:38pm Just as they are getting the square uncovered, another heavy drizzle starts. Covers back on, informs Fidel. It is a full downpour now, not just a drizzle.

7:34pm Rain has stopped, Fidel says. The ground staff are starting to take the covers off. Although that could be just to remove the water from the centre to the outermost cover and then in the drains that is beyond the boundary area

Sonal Motghare : "If this turns out be a washout then NZ's chances of making it to the semifinal will be very difficult. Advantage India I think. "

Faz is in with his grim verdict: "It is Raining cats and dogs here in RPS , There's no chance of further play possible today "

7.05pm "Proper storm now," informs Fidel, who is at the ground. "Pools of water on the edges of the outfield." Looks like it could take a while for a restart even if the rain stops now.

6.55pm Bad news folks, the rains have arrived! Just a drizzle at this point, but covers coming on, we will keep you updated on the amended restart time.

6:25pm A supreme show from Sri Lanka in the third powerplay - 80 off the last ten overs! And now Athapaththu's call to bat first proves all the more fantastic for Sri Lanka. It was her 101-run opening stand with Gunaratne that really set the base. Athapaththu was at her fluent best and chose the balls and bowlers to attack. Gunaratne struggled for fluency but once they fell, New Zealand managed to keep a check on the scoring.

That is till Nilakshika walked out to bat. Her intent was very high and she was unafraid to take risks. At the same time, she was not reckless. She moved about in the crease to explore vacant pockets on the field. She was also helped by some sloppy fielding effort from New Zealand. All this meant Nilakshika got to a half-century in just 26 balls, beating the 34-ball mark set by Shorna Akter yesterday.

New Zealand's bowlers did not do all that bad. Just that they were not assisted enough by the fielders. Illing had a good game and so did Devine. But they would be disappointed that their spinners couldn't strike. Change-ups were quite effective, and this is still a very good deck for batting. New Zealand should be confident of chasing this down, while Sri Lanka would do well to take a cue from the first-innings bowling.

Vishmi Gunaratne: "We have a good score. Had some partnerships as well. I was reminding myself to stay calm and play my natural game. Our strike rate was also go, we didn't think much. [Surface] It is a good one for batters. We have to keep an eye on our line and lengths. Nilakshika is a good batter and put a good score on the board after we fell."

Right then. New Zealand need 259, should be a cracker. Don't go too far away, join us in half an hour for the chase.

Here's Namooh Shah: Fastest 50s for SL in W-ODIs 26 - Nilakshika de Silva v NZ, Today 28 - Nilakshika de Silva v IND, Colombo 2025 30 - Eshani Lokusuriyage v IND, Brabourne, 2013 30 - Chamari Athapaththu v NZ, Galle 2023 36 - Eshani Lokusuriyage v IND, Jaipur 2006

Deep Gadhia tells me this is the first time five of Sri Lanka's top six have got scores of 25 of more.

Akindu: "Real gem of an innings from Nilakshika"

Square leg comes in, short fine goes out

Third comes in, mid-on goes back

Devine for the last over

Rayen: "Why is Sanjeewani not sent in ahead of Piumi Watshala? Sanjeewani is a great hitter of the ball" Wathsala is a hard-hitting allrounder

Jess is back