(Photo ICC)
Nat Sciver-Brunt produced a captain’s knock of the highest order as her record-breaking fifth ICC Women’s World Cup hundred was the catalyst for England’s 89-run win over Sri Lanka.
The 33-year-old, who was dropped on three, brilliantly combined boundary hitting with rotating the strike in Colombo on the way to a run-a-ball 117 which was also her 10th career ODI century.
Having posted 253 for nine with the bat, England maintained their 100% record at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 and took top spot in the group stage table after their bowlers, led by Sophie Ecclestone’s brilliant four for 17, restricted their opponents playing in their home country to 164 all out inside 46 overs.
England’s innings began in eventful fashion as Tammy Beaumont successfully reviewed the decision to give her out LBW when on one in the second over, before Amy Jones was run out after getting caught on her heels when being called through for a single in the fourth.
Beaumont continued in aggressive fashion but had to go for a 29-ball 32 after mistiming Sugandika Kumari to leave England 49 for one.
A 60-run partnership followed between Heather Knight and captain Sciver-Brunt, but Sri Lanka found the breakthrough in the 22nd over when Knight was given out on review gloving Inoka Ranaweera (3/33) to slip for 29.
Sciver-Brunt was handed a life on three by Udeshika Prabodhani at mid-wicket and looked imperious thereafter, scoring all around the ground to bring up her fifty from 57 balls.
Despite scoring relatively freely, England continued to lose wickets as 146 for three became 168 for six, starting when Sophia Dunkley was caught and bowled by Kavisha Dilhari for a boundaryless 18.
That was followed by a superb double-wicket maiden from Ranaweera, who bowled Emma Lamb round her legs for 13 before having Alice Capsey stumped for a duck courtesy of excellent glovework from Anushka Sanjeewani.
Sciver-Brunt and Charlie Dean crafted a useful 38-run partnership to keep the scoreboard ticking over, but the latter went for 19 when she flicked Prabodhani to Dewmi Vihanga stood at 45 degrees.
Ecclestone was stumped for three to leave England 216 for eight with four overs to go.
But despite the falling of wickets, Sciver-Brunt brought up her ton with an exquisite inside out lofted drive over extra cover.
Sciver-Brunt was eventually out caught on the boundary for 117, which included nine fours and two sixes, but her late flurry of boundaries propelled England to a competitive total.
Sri Lanka’s response began steadily, reaching 17 without loss after five overs, but a suspected hamstring injury for Chamari Athapaththu meant the captain retired hurt – being carried off on a stretcher – for seven.
England claimed their first wicket at the beginning of the ninth as Dean produced a wicked spinning delivery that bowled Vishmi Gunaratne through the gate for 10.
Hasini Perera and Harshitha Samarawickrama fought back, putting on 58 for the fourth wicket as a series of quickfire boundaries kept the game in the balance at the 20-over mark.
However, Ecclestone scythed through the Sri Lankan top order, taking four wickets to put England in control.
Perera was the first of the 26-year-old’s scalps as, when on 35, she tried to slog the No. 1-ranked ODI bowler but only succeeded in finding Capsey at mid-on.
Samarawickrama was then sent back to the pavilion for 33 when she top-edged to Lauren Bell at short fine and Dilhari was also given her cue to leave when Ecclestone knocked back her off-stump attempting a big sweep.
The returning Athapaththu could only add a further eight runs to her score before Ecclestone bowled her with a ball that beat both bat and pad to clatter the stumps.
England pressed home from that point on as Sciver-Brunt (2/25), Capsey (1/15) and Dean (2/47) accounted for the lower order to leave Sri Lanka 157 for nine before Linsey Smith (1/22) wrapped up the innings with the wicket of Prabodhani.
Sciver-Brunt hailed Sophie Ecclestone after the spinner’s superb bowling performance helped England maintain their 100% record.
The 26-year-old dismantled Sri Lanka’s top and middle order with an excellent display of how to utilise a spinning pitch, finishing with figures of four for 17 that saw the opposition fall from 95 for one to 116 for five.
Hasini Perera was the first of Ecclestone’s scalps as, when on 35, she tried to slog the No. 1-ranked ODI bowler but only succeeded in finding Alice Capsey at mid-on.
Harshitha Samarawickrama was then sent back to the pavilion for 33 when she top-edged to Lauren Bell at short fine and Kavisha Dilhari was also given her cue to leave when Ecclestone knocked back her off-stump attempting a big sweep.
The returning captain Chamari Athapaththu, who had earlier retired hurt, could only add a further eight runs to her score before Ecclestone bowled her with a ball that beat both bat and pad to clatter the stumps.
Ecclestone’s exploits in England’s 89-run win in Colombo means she now tops the leading wicket taker standings with nine scalps and Sciver-Brunt, who had earlier hit a superb run-a-ball 117 to propel her side to 253 for nine, was delighted at the mature performance from the slow left armer.
“She’s brilliant, isn’t she?” she said. “To be able to hand the ball to her and bowl 10 straight through today, not going for many runs and picking up four wickets, it’s pretty special.
“From the time she was 16 and came into the team, I think we knew we had something special on our hands. I think she’s probably really grown in the last couple of months.
“We challenged her a little bit to improve herself and to really make a mark on this team, and for herself as well. I’m really pleased for her.”
Sciver-Brunt’s record-breaking fifth ICC Women’s World Cup hundred was crucial to England’s imposing total on a pitch offering a lot to both sets of spinners.
The 33-year-old was handed a life on three but looked imperious thereafter, scoring all around the ground despite wickets falling around her at regular intervals.
And she brought up her ton, which is also her 10th in ODIs, with an exquisite inside out lofted drive over extra cover for six.
Sciver-Brunt was eventually out for 117, which included nine fours and two sixes, and she was pleased to have been the mainstay of the innings once she had got herself up and running.
“[The plan was to] build a partnership with Heather,” said Sciver-Brunt, whose 60-run partnership with Knight was the biggest of the match.
“[We wanted to] make sure that we built something so that the batters coming in could really accelerate towards the end of the innings, which obviously didn’t quite happen.
“But, and we talk about it all the time, having a set batter towards the end of the innings is so important, especially when the wicket probably is a little bit sloppy and a little bit inconsistent.
“[I was] really happy that I was able to do that today.”
Wins over South Africa, Bangladesh and now Sri Lanka mean England sit top of the group stage table at this year’s World Cup and leave them in a good position to make the knockout stages.
However, despite being unbeaten, Sciver-Brunt is still expecting more to come from her charges.
When asked if England had played their best cricket yet, she added: “In patches. Probably not. We probably haven’t put it all together.
“We probably would have liked to have some bigger partnerships in our batting innings today to make it feel a little bit more comfortable. But in patches, we’ve done really well.”
Sri Lanka have now lost two of their opening three matches at the competition, but Athapaththu is confident her side are close to turning a corner with New Zealand next up.
She said: “I feel we improved a little bit, but we need to improve a lot before the next game. We stick with our plans, and we have to execute the right plan at the right time.”
RESULT
England 253/9 in 50.0 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 117, Tammy Beaumont 32; Inoka Ranaweera 3/33, Udeshika Prabodhani 2/55)
Sri Lanka 164 all out in 45.4 overs (Hasini Perera 35, Harshitha Samarawickrama 33; Sophie Ecclestone 4/17, Nat Sciver-Brunt 2/25)
Result: England won by 89 runs.
