Twitter Reactions: Nat Sciver-Brunt's record-breaking ton sets up 161-run Sri Lankan hammering

England women and Sri Lanka women took on each other in the third and final ODI of the series on Thursday, September 14 at Grace Road, Leicester. The start of the game got delayed due to heavy rain, however, the match did get underway as the two teams played a 31-over game.

Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu won the toss and invited England to bat first. The decision was vindicated by her bowlers who gave two early blows to the hosts dismissing Tammy Beaumont (2 off 5) and Alice Capsey (6 off 10) cheaply. Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt walked in at number four determined to bail her team out of trouble.

The England captain looked in a hurry as she brought up her half-century off just 32 balls. She got good support from Maia Boucher as the duo got involved in a massive 193-run partnership from 120 balls to take England’s total past 200. Bouchier unfortunately fell five runs short of her hundred getting dismissed for 95 (65) smashing 12 fours and two sixes in her innings.

However, Sciver-Brunt continued her breathtaking innings at the other end and completed her hundred in just 66 balls. Notably, it's the fastest ever hundred by an England woman cricketer in ODIs. She was eventually dismissed for a sensational 120 off 74 balls with the help of 18 fours and a six in her innings. Courtesy of her remarkable innings, England women posted a massive score of 273/8 in their allotted 31 overs. Kavisha Dilhari was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka as she picked up 3/42 in her four-over spell.

Charlotte Dean picked five-wicket haul in the second innings

In reply, Sri Lanka didn’t get off to a good start in their chase losing their opener Anushka Sanjeewani (13 off 15) in the fifth over of the innings. In the very next over, Harshitha Samarawickrama (1 off 4) was dismissed by Mahika Gaur. The visitors failed to recover from the early blows and were left reeling at 46/4 after 8.5 overs.

Only Hasini Perera showed some fight with her knock of 32 (24). However, after her dismissal in the 15th over, Sri Lanka were staring down the barrel and got all out for 112. As a result, England won the match by 161 runs and won the series by 2-0. Charlotte Dean was the pick of the bowlers for England as she picked 5/31 in six overs while Luren Filer (3/30 in 6.5 overs) also picked up three wickets.