Heather Knight, Amy Jones and Lauren Winfield powered the England Women’s team to a comfortable 153-run victory over the Sri Lanka Women’s Emerging XI in the visitors’ only practice game on tour.
England took first lease of the flat track at the P Sara Oval and made maximum use of the conditions, putting on 319 runs on the board. They lost Tammy Beaumont early on via a run-out but from that point there was no respite for the locals as Jones (56), Winfield (80) and Knight (67) all cruised to half centuries.
All three retired-out, giving the rest of the batters an opportunity to get out into the middle with England well on their way to a 300+ total. Sophia Dunkley (28 off 22) and Anya Schrubsole (27 off 13) provided the late surge for England, as they finished on 319/7 in their allotted overs.
All the Lankan bowlers apart from Sathya Sandeepani, Umesha Thimashini and Harshitha Samarawickrama went at over 6 runs an over as the hosts struggled to complete with the reigning World Champions.
Photos: Sri Lanka Women Emerging XI vs England Women | Practice Match
The one big positive for Sri Lanka was the performance of Samarawickrama, who shone with the bat after a decent effort with the ball.
The 20-year-old made a half century for the hosts, momentarily threatening to take Sri Lanka to a decent score. She put on 38 for the 3rd wicket alongside Hansima Karunaratne, Sri Lanka’s biggest partnership in the game – the pair currently play together at Navy Sports Club.
Apart from Samarawickrama (59) and Karunaratne (28), none of the other batters could come to terms with the English bowling lineup, who cleaned them up for 166 in 40 overs. Heather Knight finished with figures of 4/13 in just 3 overs.
England will face Sri Lanka in 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is on tour, the first of which will be played at the Mahinda Rajapakse International Cricket Stadium in Suriyawewa on Saturday 16th March.
Scores
England Women 319/7 (50) – Lauren Winfield 80, Heather Knight 67, Amy Jones 56, M Methtananda 2/58
Sri Lanka Women Emerging XI 166 (40) – Harshitha Samarawickrama 59, Hansima Karunaratne 28, Heather Knight 4/13
