ICC WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2025
Sciver-Brunt smashed a century before chipping in with a couple of wickets © Getty
An allround effort from Nat Sciver-Brunt helped England bulldoze past Sri Lanka in Colombo by 89 runs to continue their winning run in the 2025 Women’s World Cup. Sciver-Brunt smashed a record-breaking century, her fifth in a World Cup, the most by any batter, to drag England to 253/9 before chipping in with a couple of wickets as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 164.
Despite scoring just five runs from their first three overs in the run chase, Sri Lanka initially gave a good account of themselves. Their inspirational skipper Chamari Athapaththu had to be stretchered off early due to cramps but that didn’t deter the likes of Hasini Perera and Harshitha Samarawickrama. Vishmi Gunaratne looked in solid touch before getting castled by Charlie Dean but the hosts were still on course by the end of the 20th over at 95/1. With Bangladesh running them close in the last game, England had to strike soon to make things easier and Sophie Ecclestone put her hand up with a wicket maiden.
Ecclestone repeated the feat in her following over too as the two set batters were now back in the pavilion for Sri Lanka. Athapaththu did return but Ecclestone continued to torment the Lankans. She also bagged the big wicket of the opposition skipper and at that point her figures read an astonishing 6-3-5-4. There was simply no coming back from that for the home side as Sri Lanka’s downward spiral continued. Sciver-Brunt struck twice to add to the Lankan misery before they finally collapsed in the 46th over.
Earlier in the evening, Sri Lanka opted to bowl with the threat of rain around. Amy Jones kickstarted the game with a boundary first ball but a needless run out saw her heading back to the pavilion early. Tammy Beaumont though looked in great touch, hammering boundaries against both the new ball bowlers. While England were flying high at one stage, scoring at over six an over, Heather Knight’s inability to get going right from the start slowed them down a touch. Against the run of play, Beaumont mistimed one awkwardly to depart for a 29-ball 32 that pushed England into a rebuilding mode.
That is when Sciver-Brunt joined Knight out in the middle. The skipper received an early reprieve and took full toll as she found some much-needed momentum with a couple of boundaries before smacking Inoka Ranaweera for a six over long on. Ranaweera came back strong though with Knight’s wicket in her following over. From thereon, it was just a Sciver-Brunt show as she first brought up her first fifty of the tournament and kept going strong even though Sri Lanka delivered some vital blows at the other end, getting rid of the likes of Sophia Dunkley, Emma Lamb and Alice Capsey in quick succession to reduce England to 168/6.
Dean was then involved in an important partnership with her skipper that not only stemmed the rot but also dragged England past the 200-run mark. The home team then continued to make inroads at the death before Sciver-Brunt decided to take it upon herself to fetch some vital runs. She brought up a fantastic ton with a six and then followed it up with a boundary before finding the fence thrice in succession in the following over. She was dismissed off the penultimate delivery.
Brief scores: England 253/9 in 50 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 117, Tammy Beaumont 32; Inoka Ranaweera 3/33) beat Sri Lanka 164 in 45.4 overs (Hasini Perera 35; Sophie Ecclestone 4/17, Nat Sciver-Brunt 2/25) by 89 runs
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