KURUNEGALA, Sri Lanka

(CMC): DESPITE SUFFERING loss in their last outing, West Indies women have remained buoyant ahead of their third one-day international against Sri Lanka today.

The series is locked 1-1 after Sri Lanka won the second match on Friday, rebounding from their defeat to the Windies girls in the opener on Wednesday.

"It was a close match and we came out on the losing end, but we are not too despondent,' head coach Sherwin Campbell said yesterday. "The girls are really focused and we know we can bounce back. On Friday we dropped a few catches and that cost us the match in the end. We bowled really well, but catches win matches and we have to make amends on Sunday."

Training session

The players had a long training session yesterday ahead of today's match which will be played at the Welagedara Stadium. The leading players so far for the Windies have been Stacy King, who hit a career-best 70 in the first match; off-spinner Afy Fletcher, who has taken five wickets in the two matches; as well as teenager Stafanie Taylor, who has contributed with both bat and ball.

"We have encountered surfaces which have been taking lots of spin and in the matches so far the spin bowlers have been dominant. I have no doubt our spinners can win the series for us. We have quality bowlers who know what is required," said Campbell, the former West Indies vice-captain, who played 52 Tests and 90 ODIs.

"What we need to do is get more runs on the board. In the two matches we have been in the 160 to 170 bracket and I know we can do better. I challenged the girls to put up some bigger numbers and I am confident once we do that, we can limit the Sri Lankans."