Nat Sciver-Bruntton inspires England to win the Women’s World Cup in Sri Lanka

Nat Sciver-Brunt’s record single-day international century lifted England to an 89-run victory over Sri Lanka in Colombo.

The England captain became the first batswoman to record a fifth hundred in the history of the Women’s World Cup when she fired an impressive 117 off as many deliveries.

Sciver-Brunt’s strike helped England reach 253 for nine from their 50 overs before Sophie Ecclestone played with the ball to finish with figures of four wickets for 17 as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 164.

The win was England’s third in a row as they moved to the top of the rankings, while Sri Lanka remained winless.

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Chase

Sciver-Brunt was dropped at three by Udeshika Prabodhani and that mistake came back to haunt the hosts.

There were cameos at the top of the English order, with Tammy Beaumont (32 off 29 deliveries) and Heather Knight (29 off 47) both contributing, while Inoka Ranaweera led Sri Lanka’s attack with three for 33 from her 10 overs.

But it was Sciver-Brunt who led the way as she brought up her 10th ODI hundred – only the fifth woman to do so – off 110 balls.

She hit two sixes and a hat-trick of consecutive fours in the final, putting England in the driver’s seat.

Incredible

Commenting on her match-winning innings, Beaumont said of Sciver-Brunt: “She’s just incredible. She doesn’t seem to feel any pressure when she’s batting.”

“She started aggressively when the ball slipped through, and then stayed calm and shook that lower order. It shows how good she is and how lucky we are to have her in the team.”

In response, Charlie Dean removed Vishmi Gunaratne, 10, during her first delivery. Sri Lanka leveled the ship at 95 for one before Ecclestone dismantled the top order.

Hasini perera (35), Harshitha Samarawickrama (33), Kavisha Dilhari (four) and Chamari Athapaththu (15) were all fooled by EcClestone’s excellence.

Nice catch

Sciver-Brunt then came into action with the ball to trap Anushka Sanjeewani lbw, leaving Sri Lanka six wickets and 100 off their target.

Sciver-Brunt had her second victim when she removed Dewmi Vihanga after a fine catch from Dean, who would also end the evening with two wickets after clean bowling Sugandika Dasanayaka.

England play Pakistan on Wednesday next week before additional group tests against India, Australia and New Zealand.

READ MORE: Tammy Beaumont says England are ready to take on Sri Lanka’s spinners in the World Cup