COLOMBO: Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt’s century and Sophie Ecclestone’s four-wicket haul powered England to an 89-run victory over Sri Lanka in the 12th match of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 at R Premadasa Stadium on Saturday.
Home side’s captain Chamari Athapaththu’s decision to field first backfired as England accumulated a formidable total of 253/9 in their allotted 50 overs.
Leading the way for the former champions was their captain Sciver-Brunt, who top-scored with a run-a-ball 117, studded with nine fours and two sixes.
Besides her, top-order batters Tammy Beaumont and Heather Knight made notable contributions, with 32 and 29, respectively.
Inoka Ranaweera was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka, taking three wickets for 33 runs in her 10 overs, followed by Sugandika Kumari and Udeshika Prabodhani with two each, while Kavisha Dilhari made one scalp.
Chasing a 254-run target, Sri Lanka’s batting unit was booked for a meagre 164 in 45.4 overs, resulting in the co-host succumbing to their second defeat in the eight-team mega event.
Left-handed opener Hasini Perera remained the top-scorer for Sri Lanka with a cautious 35 off 60 deliveries, while middle-order batter Harshitha Samarawickrama (33) was the other to cross the 30-run mark.
Besides them, Nilakshika Silva (23), skipper Chamari Athapaththu (15), Vishmi Gunaratne and Anushka Sanjeewani, 10 each, could amass double figures against a ruthless England bowling attack, led by Sophie Ecclestone, who took four wickets for just 17 runs in her 10 overs.
Charlie Dean and Nat Sciver-Brunt supported Ecclestone with two each, while Linsey Smith and Alice Capsey chipped in with one apiece.
The 89-run victory helped England reclaim the top spot in the ICC Women’s World Cup standings as they now have six points in three matches, one more than arch-rivals Australia, who slipped to the second position.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka remained seventh, just above bottom-placed Pakistan, with one point in three fixtures.
