Women’s T20 WC: Sciver-Brunt hails England’s ruthlessness after massive win over Sri Lanka

Birmingham, June 13 (IANS) England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt praised her side’s composure and ruthlessness after they opened their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup campaign with a record-breaking 87-run victory over Sri Lanka at Edgbaston.

Powered by an unbeaten 105 from Danni Wyatt-Hodge, England scored 219-1, the highest total in Women’s T20 World Cup history, before bowling Sri Lanka out for 132. This gave England a strong start to their home tournament.

“It’s a massive win for us,” Sciver-Brunt said after the match. “We’re really happy the first game is done.”

England’s innings featured a fantastic 136-run opening partnership between Wyatt-Hodge and Amy Jones. Sciver-Brunt added 46 runs from just 22 balls to finish off the innings.

“What a way to start the first innings. Danni and Amy looked so composed, building a huge platform for us to explode at the end,” she said.

Sciver-Brunt was pleased with her performance after returning from injury. “I was really happy to find the middle. I had a couple of innings in the warm-up games, but nothing compares to being out there.”

When asked if England’s display had been ruthless, the skipper agreed. “Yes, absolutely. We were composed and thought about the game in a really good way,” she said. “In the second innings, starting with three wickets in the powerplay makes it tough to chase down that score.”

Sri Lanka never recovered after losing three early wickets. Freya Kemp shone on her World Cup debut, taking 4 wickets for 21 runs, while Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone each claimed two wickets.

The night belonged to Wyatt-Hodge, who followed her century with a remarkable over-the-shoulder catch to dismiss Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu. This century was Wyatt-Hodge’s third in T20 internationals and her first since her wife Georgie gave birth to their daughter Daisy.

“That was for Daisy, that little cradle. I hope TV caught it,” Wyatt-Hodge said about her celebration after reaching three figures. “It was great fun out there. What a crowd. I really enjoyed playing in front of this amazing crowd here at Edgbaston.”

Reflecting on England’s dominant start, she added, “What a start. It’s always great to get off to a good start in a World Cup.”

The opener also praised her batting partners. “I really enjoyed playing out there with Amy [Jones]. Nat just does what she does best at the end, hitting it all over.”

“We said how important it was to start well, and we did that tonight. It’s always a nice pitch here at Edgbaston, and our bowlers did incredibly well to keep them to that total on a really good pitch.”

Looking forward to England’s next match, Wyatt-Hodge said, “Off to Southampton we go tomorrow to play Ireland on Tuesday night, and hopefully we can do it again.”

For Sri Lanka, it was a disappointing start after captain Chamari Athapaththu’s choice to bowl first backfired. Watching England hit 23 fours and three sixes, alongside her side dropping three catches and missing a run-out chance with Wyatt-Hodge in the powerplay, Athapaththu admitted her team was outplayed in every area.

“We didn’t play our best cricket today. In all three departments, we were not at our best. That’s why we lost,” she said.

The Sri Lankan skipper called for major improvements, especially from her bowlers. “The most important thing is attacking the stumps. The bowlers, especially the spinners, were bowling different lines and areas. It’s not enough; we need to improve our bowling.”

Athapaththu also believed her side’s batting lacked intent after losing early wickets. “We need to play our positive, fearless cricket all the time in the middle. We lost a couple of wickets in the powerplay and lost our momentum, so we have to improve our batting as well.”

Sri Lanka now faces another tough challenge against defending champions New Zealand. Athapaththu promised her side would respond. “The next game is against New Zealand, another tough team. We played the first two games against two big teams, so we need to execute our plans better,” she said.

“We are going back to the drawing board to decide what we can do. We have to plan a few things, and we will bounce back in the next game.”

–IANS

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