England beat Sri Lanka after Brunt scores record hundred
Nat Sciver-Brunt scored the fastest women’s ODI hundred by an England batter as England beat Sri Lanka by 161 runs at Leicester.
Stand-in captain Nat Sciver-Brunt marked her 100th one-day international with a record-breaking century as England thumped Sri Lanka to wrap up their summer in scintillating fashion.
Deputising for an under-the-weather Heather Knight on Thursday, Sciver-Brunt gave a masterclass in controlled aggression as she flayed a 66-ball hundred – the fastest in women’s ODIs by an England batter.
After eclipsing the previous best off 70 balls by Charlotte Edwards against New Zealand in March 2012, Sciver-Brunt made 120 from 74 deliveries before England prevailed by 161 runs for a 2-0 series win.
Her record would only have stood for a couple of minutes if teammate Maia Bouchier had hit her 65th ball for six but she was lbw for 95, ending a boundary-laden 193-run stand in 121 deliveries with Sciver-Brunt.
Their efforts underpinned England’s mammoth 8-273 in a contest reduced to 31 overs each because of a rain-delayed start at Grace Road, with Charlie Dean’s 5-31 hastening Sri Lanka’s demise to 112 all out in a doomed pursuit.
Bouchier and Sciver-Brunt came together after England had lurched to 2-18.
Sciver-Brunt drove, pulled and swept expertly, scooping once, going proficiently through the gears as she brought up her third ton in four ODI innings, reaching the milestone in understated fashion as she nudged seamer Achini Kulasuriya off her pads for a single.
She had not offered so much of a sniff in compiling the sixth fastest ODI century in the women’s game but her stay, containing 18 fours and a six, ended when she holed out to long-off. (Cricket.com.au)
