Stand-in captain Nat Sciver-Brunt marked her one hundredth ODI with a record-breaking century as England thumped Sri Lanka to wrap up their summer season in scintillating vogue.
Deputising for an under-the-weather Heather Knight, Sciver-Brunt gave a masterclass in managed aggression as she flayed a 66-ball hundred – the quickest in ladies’s ODIs by an England batter.
After eclipsing the earlier greatest off 70 balls by Charlotte Edwards towards New Zealand in March 2012, Sciver-Brunt made 120 from 74 deliveries earlier than England prevailed by 161 runs for a 2-0 sequence win.
Her report would solely have stood for a few minutes if Maia Bouchier had hit her sixty fifth ball for six however she was lbw for 95, ending a boundary-laden 193-run stand in 121 deliveries with Sciver-Brunt.
Their efforts underpinned England’s mammoth 273-8 in a contest diminished to 31 overs every due to a rain-delayed begin at Grace Road, with Charlie Dean’s 5-31 hastening Sri Lanka’s demise to 112 all out in a doomed pursuit.
Bouchier and Sciver-Brunt got here collectively after England had lurched to 18-2, with Tammy Beaumont edging a wild heave to slide earlier than a flat-footed Alice Capsey noticed her stumps disturbed by a Udeshika Prabodhani inswinger.
With Sri Lanka’s coterie of spinners nonetheless to bowl, England might need feared the worst of their ultimate outing of their summer season programme.
They laboured when batting first towards Sri Lanka’s slower choices in a shock defeat within the previous T20 sequence, however Sciver-Brunt was rested for these matches and he or she exhibited why she is thought to be among the best batters towards spin within the ladies’s sport.
After taking two singles from her first seven deliveries, Sciver-Brunt settled into her stride with considered one of a number of back-foot punches by means of cowl off Inoka Ranaweera earlier than larruping by means of midwicket to convey up England’s 50 after which shimmying all the way down to the sluggish left-armer and elegantly driving for six.
Access limitless streaming of flicks and TV exhibits with Amazon Prime Video
Sign up now for a 30-day free trial
Sign up
Access limitless streaming of flicks and TV exhibits with Amazon Prime Video
Sign up now for a 30-day free trial
Sign up
Sciver-Brunt flayed the ball to all components
(Getty Images)
Opposite quantity Chamari Athapaththu rotated her choices however the spinners supplied little or no risk and no containment, with all of them going at greater than 10 an over when Bouchier and Sciver-Brunt batted.
Sciver-Brunt drove, pulled and swept expertly, scooping as soon as, going proficiently by means of the gears as she introduced up her third ton in 4 ODI innings, reaching the milestone in understated vogue as she nudged seamer Achini Kulasuriya off her pads for a single.
Bouchier supplied ample assist. This was simply her second ODI innings however she matched Sciver-Brunt blow for blow, registering a dozen fours and two sixes, having benefited from Emma Lamb’s continued absence with a again spasm.
Her timing was wonderful as she effortlessly whipped left-armer Prabodhani and fellow seamer Hansima Karunaratne over the leg-side fence, whereas she was additionally fluent driving down the bottom and pulling throughout the road.
After three successive fours off Oshadi Ranasinghe, Bouchier might need been stumped on 55 when she overbalanced towards the off-spinner however wicketkeeper Anushka Sanjeewani fumbled the take.
Bouchier was ultimately out 5 in need of a maiden hundred after taking part in throughout one from Kavisha Dilhari, however the opener’s innings went some technique to justifying England giving their fringe gamers an opportunity on this sequence.
Sciver-Brunt had not supplied a lot of a sniff in compiling the sixth quickest ODI century within the ladies’s sport however her keep, containing 18 fours and a six, ended when she holed out to long-off off Ranaweera.
Her departure marked the beginning of England dropping 5 wickets of their final 32 balls though debutant Bess Heath’s cameo 21 off 14 deliveries helped them add 50 to a monumental complete that will have stretched Sri Lanka in a regulation 50-over sport.
Having amassed 106 for 9 in Tuesday’s abandonment at Northampton and been skittled for an an identical complete in a seven-wicket defeat at Chester-le-Street on Saturday, Sri Lanka merely by no means obtained going.
Charlie Dean tore by means of the Sri Lanka line-up
(Action Images through Reuters)
Lauren Filer continued her wonderful summer season by uprooting Sanjeewani’s center stump and castling Imesha Dulani. Teenage left-arm seamer Mahika Gaur, recalled after being rested at Wantage Road, situated the skin fringe of Harshitha Samarawickrama earlier than Charlie Dean ran amok.
Unperturbed at being thrashed for 2 fours in her first over, Dean invited one other swipe from Athapaththu, who missed a slog sweep and fell lbw to the off-spinner for the second match in a row.
The Sri Lanka captain was the large wicket and any faint hope disappeared together with her though Dean nonetheless rubberstamped the win by snaring Karunaratne, Hasini Perera and Dilhari in the identical over.
A maiden five-for in England colors was assured when Prabodhani dragged on and Sri Lanka shortly subsided in 24.5 overs.
