Nat Sciver-Brunt’s record-breaking ton and Charlie Dean’s five-wicket haul led England to a convincing 161-run win against Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI at Grace Road, Leicester on Thursday, 14th September.
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu chose to field first after winning the toss for the first time in the series. The hosts made two changes, bringing in Bess Heath and Mahika Gaur while the visitors replaced Imesha Dulani for Vishmi Gunaratne. The start of the match was delayed due to rain and it was reduced to 31 overs per side.
Tammy Beaumont and Maia Bouchier failed to give a good start England as Achini Kulasuriya got rid of Beaumont in the 2nd over. Udeshika Prabodani then joined the party and shattered the stumps of Alice Capsey at the beginning of the 5th over.
At 18/2, the acting Skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt joined forces with Bouchier, trying to stabilize the innings. The duo attacked the Lankans’ bowling unit and completely changed the context of the game, putting on an astonishing 193-run partnership off just 120 balls for the 3rd wicket. During that period, Sciver-Brunt hit the fastest ODI century for England Women off 66 balls on her 100th one-day international appearance.
After delivering a cracking knock, the opening batter Bouchier fell short of a hundred as Kavisha Dilhari trapped her in front for 95 which came off 65 balls with 12 fours and 2 sixes. In the very next over, Inoka Ranaweera put the end for the England’s Captain’s entertaining knock of 120 in only 74 balls while hitting 18 fours and a six.
The visitors fought back at the back end of the innings, grabbing another 4 wickets at regular intervals, but still the home side finished with a massive 273 runs on the board in their allocated 31 overs. Kavisha Dilhari was expensive with the ball, but she was the pick of the bowlers for the islanders while Udeshika Prabodani, Achini Kulasuriya and Inoka Ranaweera each bagged a wicket.
Athapaththu and keeper-batter Anushka Sanjeewani commenced the run chase. However, England bowlers kept things really tight and they were striking regularly right from the start of the innings.
Hasini Perera showed some positive intent, scoring a quick-fire 32 runs in 24 balls. Apart from her, none of the Lankan batters contributed when climbing an uphill task. Eventually, Sri Lanka crumbled to 112 in 24.5 overs, handing a massive 161-run victory to the English. The right-arm off spinner Charlotte Dean did the damage, registering her maiden 5-wicket haul while Lauren Filer starred with 3/30.
The stand-in Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt won the Player of the Match award for her record-breaking century while Lauren Filer was adjudged as the Player of the Series for her consistent performances with the ball.
Despite losing the ODI series 2-0, it was still a successful tour for Sri Lanka as they managed to record their first-ever T20I series win over England earlier on.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tammy Beaumont | c Hasini Perera b Achini Kulasuriya | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Maia Bouchier | lbw b Kavisha Dilhari | 95 | 65 | 12 | 2 | 146.15 |
| Alice Capsey | b Udeshika Prabodhani | 6 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 60.00 |
| Nat Sciver | c Harshitha Madavi b Inoka Ranaweera | 120 | 74 | 18 | 1 | 162.16 |
| Amy Jones | c Harshitha Madavi b Kavisha Dilhari | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 128.57 |
| Bess Heath | c Hansima Karunaratne b Kavisha Dilhari | 21 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 150.00 |
| Alice Capsey | run out (Achini Kulasuriya) | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Charlie Dean | not out | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Sarah Glenn | run out (Udeshika Prabodhani) | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 140.00 |
| Extras | 9 (b 2 , lb 1 , nb 1, w 5, pen 0) |
| Total | 273/8 (31 Overs, RR: 8.81) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Udeshika Prabodhani | 6 | 0 | 38 | 1 | 6.33 | |
| Achini Kulasuriya | 7 | 1 | 48 | 1 | 6.86 | |
| Chamari Athapaththu | 4 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 10.00 | |
| Inoka Ranaweera | 6 | 0 | 53 | 1 | 8.83 | |
| Oshadi Ranasinghe | 3 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 11.33 | |
| Hansima Karunaratne | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 15.00 | |
| Kavisha Dilhari | 4 | 0 | 42 | 3 | 10.50 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chamari Athapaththu | lbw b Charlie Dean | 12 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 63.16 |
| Anushka Sanjeewani | b Lauren Filer | 13 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 86.67 |
| Harshitha Samarawickrama | c Davidson Richards b Mahika Gaur | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Imesha Dulani | b Lauren Filer | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Hasini Perera | c Amy Jones b Charlie Dean | 32 | 24 | 6 | 0 | 133.33 |
| Hansima Karunaratne | c & b Charlie Dean | 15 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 78.95 |
| Kavisha Dilhari | b Charlie Dean | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Oshadi Ranasinghe | lbw b Sarah Glenn | 6 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Udeshika Prabodhani | b Charlie Dean | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 16.67 |
| Achini Kulasuriya | b Lauren Filer | 12 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 57.14 |
| Inoka Ranaweera | not out | 8 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 47.06 |
| Extras | 5 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 1, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 112/10 (24.5 Overs, RR: 4.51) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lauren Filer | 6.5 | 0 | 30 | 3 | 4.62 | |
| Mahika Gaur | 6 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 4.83 | |
| Charlie Dean | 6 | 0 | 31 | 5 | 5.17 | |
| Sarah Glenn | 6 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 3.50 | |
