Sciver-Brunt picks up the trophy and her team are all smiles for the cameras, with a bit of Katy Perry blasting in the background. And that will be that from me. Raf Nicholson’s report will be here soon. Thanks for tuning in!
Filer has her say:
"It's been a whirlwind summer"
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 14, 2023
Player of the Series Lauren Filer for her 8️⃣ wickets 👏 pic.twitter.com/Xm96h47ZU7
NSB is, predictably, the player of the match. Cracking knock from one of the best cricketers on the planet.
Lauren Filer is the player of the series, having taken eight wickets across three matches. She didn’t get a go in the T20Is but is surely on course to be a three-format regular for England.
Nick Knight’s just had to explain the premise of The Lovers. I do love it when either him or Ian Ward have to give Sky’s other stuff a plug.
That’s the end of England Women’s summer, and it’s been very eventful. They didn’t regain the Ashes but still won both white-ball legs, were then stunned in the T20I series against Sri Lanka before things went back to normal in the ODIs. It’s been good fun.
Charlie Dean leads England off the field. She was brilliant with her offies, taking 5-31 off her six overs. But the win was set up by the magnificent Nat Sciver-Brunt, her century the fastest for England Women in this format.
England win by 161 runs
Kulasuriya carves a fuller delivery from Filer through the covers, a lovely sliced swing from the left-hander. But Filer finally brings this show to a close, rattling the stumps from around the wicket with the very next ball. Big ol’ win for England to close their summer. It’s a 2-0 series win, too.
24th over: Sri Lanka 107-9 (Ranaweera 7, Kulasuriya 8) Ranaweera gets a little tickle with the bottom of her bat to get the ball to run away for four.
23rd over: Sri Lanka 102-9 (Ranaweera 2, Kulasuriya 8) Oooh. Filer gets slightly carried away, delivering a beamer that Kulasuriya gets out of the way of.
22nd over: Sri Lanka 100-9 (Ranaweera 1, Kulasuriya 8) Gaur returns from the other end, and we’re left still waiting for the final blow. Kulasuriya goes for a big swing that catches the air, and the ball somehow misses the stumps. Then comes a cracking shot from Kulasariya, as she lofts over extra cover for four.
21st over: Sri Lanka 95-9 (Ranaweera 0, Kulasuriya 4) NSB flexes by bringing Filer back to try and finish this off now. A full toss is Filer’s first contribution though, with Kulasuriya slapping it through the covers for four.
20th over: Sri Lanka 91-9 (Kulasuriya 0, Ranaweera 0) No runs off the over and a wicket for Glenn, who has squeezed while Dean has struck from the other end.
WICKET! Ranasinghe lbw Glenn 6 (Sri Lanka 91-9)
Glenn gets in on the fun, with Ranasinghe trapped in front trying a reverse sweep. There’s a review, but we all know where this is going. Three reds, and Sri Lanka are nine down.
Updated
19th over: Sri Lanka 91-8 (Ranasinghe 6, Kulasuriya 0)
WICKET! Prabodhani b Dean 2 (Sri Lanka 91-8)
Five for Charlie Dean! Prabodhani drags on trying to cut off the back foot. Dean has bowled beautifully today and is rewarded with her first five-for in international cricket.
Updated
18th over: Sri Lanka 90-7 (Ranasinghe 5, Prabodhani 2) Glenn runs through her work quickly, just one off it.
17th over: Sri Lanka 89-7 (Ranasinghe 4, Prabodhani 2) Dean continues, mixing up her pace and shapes, but there’s no fifth wicket just yet.
All this white-ball stuff over the last few weeks has made me rewatch that Sky ad for The Lovers way too many times. I’m pretty sure I can recite it word for word at this point. Help me. Anyway, Dean’s back, looking for a five-for.
16th over: Sri Lanka 86-7 (Ranasinghe 2, Prabodhani 1) Glenn continues, but NSB must be tempted to bring Filer back soon to knock over the tail. The leggie runs through her over quickly, conceding just three. Cue the drinks break.
15th over: Sri Lanka 83-7 (Ranasinghe 0, Prabodhani 0) Dean has four, and England are nearly there.
WICKET! Dilhari b Dean 1 (Sri Lanka 83-7)
Three wickets in the over! Dean is running away with the game. This time it’s a right-hander, with the off-break driftin’, rippin’, dippin’ and knockin’ over Dilhari. Just gorgeous spin bowling, this.
Updated
WICKET! Perera c Jones b Dean 32 (Sri Lanka 82-6)
And another one. Dean goes around the wicket to Perera and it’s a laaavely off-break, forcing a prod from the left-hander, with an edge flying into the hands of Jones behind the stumps.
Updated
WICKET! Karunaratne c&b Dean 15 (Sri Lanka 81-5)
Dean strikes! Karunaratne just chips the ball back to the bowler and it’s a tidy catch to complete the dismissal.
Updated
14th over: Sri Lanka 81-4 (Karunaratne 15, Perera 32) An lbw shout as Karunaratne gets on one knee to slog sweep, but England opt against it. Perera then hits straight for four to close the over.
13th over: Sri Lanka 76-4 (Karunaratne 14, Perera 28) Dean is getting some nice flight and dip with her off-break, and Sri Lanka’s pair can’t nail a big shot off her in the over.
12th over: Sri Lanka 71-4 (Karunaratne 10, Perera 27) Glenn whirls away and Karunaratne and Perera knock it about to take five off the over.
11th over: Sri Lanka 66-4 (Karunaratne 6, Perera 26) Karunaratne uses her feet well to swat Dean to long-on for four. Perera finishes the over by driving behind point for another boundary.
10th over: Sri Lanka 53-4 (Perera 20, Karunaratne 0) Perera is seeing them well, and she launches Glenn down the ground to long-off for four.
9th over: Sri Lanka 46-4 (Perera 13, Karunaratne 0) For the second game in a row, Dean gets Athapaththu in her first over. Quality stuff from the offie.
WICKET! Athapaththu lbw Dean 12 (Sri Lanka 46-4)
Dean’s off-breaks enter the game and Athapaththu flicks down the leg-side for a boundary. Feels like it’s time for the Sri Lanka captain to cut loose, and she takes advantage of Dean’s slightly awry line and length by swiping away for four more. But Dean then finds her spot and strikes! Athapaththu tries to sweep but misses. The batter goes up for a review but that is plumb and Hawk-Eye proves it.
Updated
8th over: Sri Lanka 38-3 (Athapaththu 4, Perera 13) Another nice shot from Perera, cutting Gaur for four. A drag-down follows and that means the cut is out again, producing another boundary.
7th over: Sri Lanka 30-3 (Perera 5, Athapaththu 4) Hasini Perera drives through the covers to get herself going, but that’s another quality set from Filer.
WICKET! Dulani b Filer 5 (Sri Lanka 24-3)
Filer is just too quick here. She goes straight and at the stumps and Dulani’s hack is futile.
Updated
6th over: Sri Lanka 24-2 (Athapaththu 4, Dulani 5) Good shot from the new batter, Imesha Dulani, who drives Gaur through extra cover for four to get off the mark.
WICKET! Samarawickrama c Davidson-Richards b Gaur 1 (Sri Lanka 19-2)
Gaur gets some beautiful shape to move the ball away from Samarawickrama. And then comes the drive… and an edge to Davidson-Richards at first slip! Terrific bowling from the teenager, just what you want from a left-arm quick with the new ball.
Updated
5th over: Sri Lanka 18-1 (Samarawickrama 1, Athapaththu 4) Filer is troubling Athapaththu, keeping things quiet by launching the ball across the left-hander.
WICKET! Sanjeewani 13 b Filer (Sri Lanka 17-0)
Pace is pace yaar. Filer thuds the ball into Sanjeewani, who is bowled via a deflection off the pads. Full length, fast, and too good.
Updated
4th over: Sri Lanka 17-0 (Sanjeewani 13, Athapaththu 4) Sanjeewani heaves Gaur to the leg side for a couple. Decent areas from the left-armer, who produces another decent over.
3rd over: Sri Lanka 14-0 (Athapaththu 4, Sanjeewani 10) Sanjeewani slaps Filer over mid-off for four to cue some, I think, Franz Ferdinand from the DJ. Been a while since I heard anything from them. Anyway, Filer’s got wheels, beating Athapaththu’s bat as she thunders in from over the wicket.
2nd over: Sri Lanka 9-0 (Sanjeewani 5, Athapaththu 4) From the other end, teen superstar Mahika Gaur. Amy Jones goes up for a catch after Athapaththu swings and misses, and England do review, hopeful for an edge – but she’s absolutely nowhere near it. Bit of swing there for Gaur, who concedes just a couple.
1st over: Sri Lanka 7-0 (Athapaththu 3, Sanjeewani 4) Lauren Filer opens up and Athapaththu tucks into the leg side for a couple. Sanjeewani edges her first ball but it flies over the keeper and cordon, running away for four.
Sri Lanka’s opening pair are out there – time for a Chamari special? They need one.
The moment Nat Sciver-Brunt, England’s skipper today, went to three figures:
Leicester stands to salute England's captain Nat Sciver-Brunt after a masterclass on her 100th ODI 👏 pic.twitter.com/VQdclyBuhJ
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 14, 2023
Monster total from England, guided by a 193-run stand between Nat Sciver-Brunt and Maia Bouchier. The latter just fell short of a ton in her third ODI, but NSB kept on going, immense in hitting 120 off just 74 balls. That was her eighth ODI hundred and her fifth since the start of last year. A phenomenal cricketer at her best.
Sri Lanka need 274 off 31 overs to level the series
Glenn crunches a drive off Prabodhani but that’s straight to the fielder. Sri Lanka review an lbw but the ball is pitching waaay outside leg. Glenn then does brilliantly to reach out to a delivery outside off and find four through point. A run out finishes proceedings as England ambitiously try and nab two off the final ball.
30th over: England 265-7 (Glenn 1, Dean 1) One over to go. Hmmm… 280?
WICKET! Heath c Karunaratne b Dilhari 21 (England 264-7)
Heath reverse-sweeps for four, just moments after Charles Dagnall, on comms, wondered about the prospect of that very shot. The debutant then hits a full toss to deep midwicket but that’s a very promising cameo to begin her international career with.
WICKET! Davidson-Richards run out Dilhari 2 (England 257-6)
Heath picks up four behind square on the off side, and a single for Davidson-Richards brings up 250. And then a big one from Heath, who swings across the line to clear deep midwicket. That’s what she does for the two Northern sides in regional cricket and The Hundred, the Superchargers and Diamonds. Oops, Davidson-Richards is run out as England try and run two.
29th over: England 257-6 (Heath 15, Dean 0)
Updated
28th over: England 244-5 (Heath 3, Davidson-Richards 1) Three overs left, with Alice Davidson-Richards joining Heath out there in the middle.
WICKET! Jones c Samarawickrama b Dilhari 9 (England 242-5)
Jones picks out long-off and Sri Lanka are finally finding some joy. The dream of 300 withers away.
27th over: England 240-4 (Jones 8, Heath 1) Bess Heath arrives on debut, in for a late-innings whack alongside Jones.
WICKET! Nat Sciver-Brunt c Samarawickrama b Ranaweera 120 (England 233-4)
A sitter from Ranaweera, who was gifted a return catch from an Amy Jones leading edge but couldn’t hold on. Then Sciver-Brunt’s dropped at long-off! Tougher chance. And then, inevitably, NSB hits over cover for four to move to 120. And then the dismissal! Sciver-Brunt goes big again but this time long-off holds on. What a ridiculous knock that was.
26th over: England 233-4 (Jones 2, Heath 0)
Updated
25th over: England 226-3 (Jones 1, Sciver-Brunt 114) Sciver-Brunt brings out the scoop for her second boundary of the over, toying with Dilhari. A thump through the covers makes it three fours in a row. 300 is still so on.
WICKET! Bouchier lbw Dilhari 95 (England 211-3)
Bouchier is distraught! She tried to whip the off-spinner across the line but was struck in front, and the finger goes up.
Updated
Century for Nat Sciver-Brunt!
Bouchier hits to long-off for four off Kulasuriya and then pulls well, but just for a single. Now to NSB, who collects for one to move to 99. Bouchier tucks to long-on to give Sciver-Brunt the strike again, and there it is – her third hundred in four ODI innings. And it’s also the fastest in the format for England Women, off just 66 balls. This, in her 100th ODI. And she’s captain. Decent.
24th over: England 211-2 (Bouchier 95, Sciver-Brunt 100)
23rd over: England 202-2 (Bouchier 88, Sciver-Brunt 98) Bouchier whips to long-on for a single to bring up 200 for England.
22nd over: England 198-2 (Sciver-Brunt 96, Bouchier 86) And NSB comes alive once again. Through the covers and then pulled away, consecutive boundaries off Kulasuriya moving her to 94.
21st over: England 187-2 (Sciver-Brunt 86, Bouchier 85) Another quiet one, but Sciver-Brunt and Bouchier keep on runnin’.
20th over: England 182-2 (Sciver-Brunt 84, Bouchier 84) Kulasuriya, who got rid of Beaumont, returns as Sri Lanka search for any sort of control. The seamer provides it, not conceding any boundaries. But England still pick up seven, the two batters running hard.
19th over: England 175-2 (Sciver-Brunt 80, Bouchier 81) Bouchier sweeps away Ranaweera’s left-arm tweakers for four. Both batters are living in the eighties.
18th over: England 168-2 (Sciver-Brunt 78, Bouchier 76) A couple of singles exchanged before Bouchier smacks one down the ground for four. She’s absolutely loving it out there, this just her second ODI innings. A thump through the off side closes the over and brings up the 150 partnership. Big.
17th over: England 156-2 (Bouchier 66, Sciver-Brunt 76) Bouchier tucks around the corner on the leg side for four more to begin the over, bowled by Dilhari. Sciver-Brunt plays a scoop with extraordinary ease to keep her boundary count ticking, and then a punch off the backfoot for four more.
Thanks Tanya! A top first 16 for England, now 15 more to go. Could they get 300?!
16th over: England 141-2 (Bouchier 61, Sciver-Brunt 66) Just the two boundaries off Athapaththu’s over, which in the current climate counts as success. As they take drinks, I will hand over to Taha Hashim who will take you through the rest of the game. Bye!
Updated
Fifty for Nat Sciver-Brunt!
15th over: England 131-2 (Bouchier 456 Sciver-Brunt 61) This is like watching someone clear the snooker table with a maximum break. Fifteen from Ranaweera’s over: three consecutive gorgeous fours: a back foot woof, two meaty on-drives. Sri Lanka looking answer-less at the moment. NSB’s fifty off just 32 balls.
Updated
Fifty for Bouchier
14th over: England 116-2 (Bouchier 47, Sciver-Brunt 55) A clip through midwicket and then another: that’s a maiden fifty for Bouchier in just her third ODI game. Off just 38 balls. And one more to make that a hat-trick of boundaries– a sweep for four. Then, from nowhere, Bouchier is beaten by the last ball of an over Ranasinghe will want to forget.
13th over: England 104-2 (Bouchier 43, Sciver-Brunt 47) Ranaweera manages to stemp the boundaries, but still five off the over.. Some close ups of chocolate cake on paper plates eaten by cheery women in anoraks.
12th over: England 99-2 (Bouchier 39, Sciver-Brunt 46) Yes, this is going very nicely for England. NSB is in effortless destruction mode – two consecutive fours – a cut and a back-foot demand. I heard her described as a once in a generation talent – which I thought summed her up.
11th over: England 87-2 (Bouchier 37, Sciver-Brunt 36) Things going a bit pear-shaped for Sri Lanka here. Karunaratne, short hair, jogs in and England milk her. First Bouchier sends a fat wide one to the rope. Then, after a free hit, she does what most people fail to do and makes the most out of a free hit – shovelling the ball for six.
10th over: England 72-2 (Bouchier 24, Sciver-Brunt 35) Athapaththu’s second over is more miserly, just five off it, tip and run.
9th over: England 67-2 (Bouchier 21, Sciver-Brunt 33) So NSB is in the mood – to Ranasinghe’s first ball she cuts for four through backward point. To her last she sweeps to square leg where the fielder enact some kind of ineffective modern dance and the ball zips over the rope. She’s also somehow hurt her foot and is hobbling about.
An email! Hello Kevin Wilson: “Good to see Bess Heath play. She kept well in the Hundred (as did Rhianna Southby) and Jones could do with a bit more pressure and rivalry for the gloves (since Beaumont and LWH aren’t keeping options). Jones is likely to be safe though as Heath and Southby seem much more like 7-8s with the bat rather than a middle order batter.”
I believe Jones will keep the gloves today, but I’ve heard good things about Heath too.
8th over: England 57-2 (Bouchier 20, Sciver-Brunt 23) Huge apologies, someone knocked on the door with a delivery. But NSB thwacked two fours and a six from Ranaweera.
7th over: England 41-2 (Bouchier 18, Sciver-Brunt 9) Spin! Athapaththu, sunglasses, steps to the crease. Five wides are not appreciated, but England are able to milk 8 more.
6th over: England 28-2 (Bouchier 18, Sciver-Brunt 2) Kulasuriya not proving easy to milk. A single from a misfield from the final over of the power play.
Updated
5th over: England 27-2 (Bouchier 18, Sciver-Brunt 1) Two useful breakthroughs by Sri Lanka, and they haven’t even engaged England’s achilles heel yet. Two crowd-pleasing boundaries for Bouchier, one through the covers, one up and away down the ground.
WICKET! Capsey b Prabodhani 6 (England 18-2)
An immobile Capsey is stuck in the crease as the ball zips in and dismantles her stumps.
Updated
4th over: England 18-1 (Bouchier 10, Capsey 6) A power move by Capsey who eyes up Kulasuriya, leans and sends the ball firing past mid-off.
3rd over: England 11-1 (Bouchier 9, Capsey 0) Just one scoring stroke but it is a six as Bouchier picks up Prabodhani and lops her, eggsovereasy, into next week (or over the midwicket boundary).
2nd over: England 5-1 (Bouchier 3, Capsey 0) A wicket maiden for Perera including the huge wicket of Beaumont. Capsey sees out four dot balls.
WICKET! Beaumont c Perera b Kulasuriya 2 (England 5-1)
Beaumont goes for the advancing slog – looks ugly in hindsight – and instead edges the ball to slip where Perera is waiting.
England innings
1st over: England 5-0 (Beaumont 2, Bouchier 3) Prabodhani has the ball and nearly breaks through straight away – as Beaumont fires the ball to deep-midwicket where the waiting fielder lets it slip.
We’re on ! Lots of loud tunes (apologies for not being able to identify them). Bouchier skips out to the middle, Beaumont strides.
Some admin: Power play of six overs, one bowler can bowl seven overs, the rest six. Fifteen minutes between innings.
Start time: 340
Ten minutes to go till we get some action.
Sri Lanka XI
Sri Lanka: Chamari Athapaththu (capt), Imesha Dulani, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Hasini Perera, Hansima Karunaratne, Kavisha Dilhari, Anushka Sanjeewani, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Udeshika Prabodhani, Achini Kulasuriya, Inoka Ranaweera
Imesha Dulani replaces Vishmi Gunaratne.
England XI
England: Tammy Beaumont, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), Amy Jones (wk), Alice Davidson-Richards, Bess Heath, Charlie Dean, Sarah Glenn, Lauren Filer, Mahika Gaur.
No Emma Lamb (back spasm) and no Heather Knight (illness). Kate Cross rests and Mahika Gaur is brought back.
Updated
Sri Lanka win the toss and will bowl!
A smiling Chamari Athapaththu says: “The conditions are good for the bowlers so we’re going to have a bowl. I think the shortened game will suit us.”
NSB will lead in Knight’s absence, she would have bowled too. Confirmation that Bess Heath will make her ODI debut: “she’s a really exciting player.”
Updated
31 overs to be played - Toss at 3.10
Heather Knight is ill and has gone back to the team hotel, so 100-cap Nat will captain the side in her absence.
A 100th cap for Nat Sciver-Brunt
The weather has relented enough for Nat SB to be presented with a 100th ODI cap on the outfield – so hopefully they think the game will start. And, Raf reports, that Bess Heath has been presented with a debut cap by Sarah Glenn.
More from Raf at Grace Road, where the covers are slowly being peeled off:
“Those at the ground are currently being treated to a video of Heather Knight talking about “The Games That Made Me”, starting with the good old 150 for England back in the 2013 Ashes".”
Our woman on the ground has mixed news. It is not raining CURRENTLY, but the air is still very damp so they are struggling to get it to dry out.
The cameras cut briefly to Leicester, where lots of school-children are jumping up and down, in the rain. Back to Sky’s documentary on what makes a leader. Unfortunately, Toto Wolff thinks you need a certain genetic disposition.
Joking aside, this is true – right? When I think of the kids at school and people I’ve known, the natural leaders were clear straight away.
Updated
A little bit of reading while we wait. The player of the series in the T20 matches was the irrepressible Chamari Athapaththu.
Here she is talking to the Cricket Monthly about Sanath Jayasuriya – but it also reveal some snippets about her own life.
Pitch inspection 215pm
Fifty/fifty whether we get any play I’d say. Here is the Met office opinion:
Largely cloudy to start Thursday as rain spreads in from the north and west during the early hours. Outbreaks of rain persisting on and off during the day in the north but some brightness likely for much of the region. Maximum temperature 19 °C.
With no news from the ground, other than rian, time to make a quick sandwich. Back shortly.
And drains away… the drizzle has restarted.
Pitch inspection 1.15pm
Optimism builds…
Things are looking up
We have news. Raf reports that the mops and buckets are outs and some of the covers are being pulled off.
Do send me your thoughts on the season, the best young players on your radar, top recipes etc. It’s just me and the dog on the sofa.
Although this is the last international of the summer, there is still plenty of life left in the RHF trophy. A crucial round of games on Saturday, so it will be interesting to see if any England players turn up. This is a very helpful summary of where we are:
With one round of fixtures left, this is where we are in then RHF Trophy. pic.twitter.com/6zo6UMelCF
— CRICKETher 🏏 (@crickether) September 13, 2023
Blaze could definitely do with Nat Sciver-Brunt and Tammy Beaumont because, as the graphic explains, if Vipers win they will probably go top with NRR. Finishing first is a huge advantage as it confers an automatic progression to the final on September 24 - second and third must battle it out in a play off.
We get a close up of the covers. They are beige, shiny and damp. A patient spectator sits under a pink umbrella. There could be a long wait. Eight minutes past five is our cut off for a 20-over game. Should we get any play, this would be Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 100th ODI.
Some highlights here of one of England’s greatest of all.
Start delayed - rain
‘Fraid so folks. I’ve spoken to Raf who is at the ground in her cagoule. She isn’t overwhelming us with her optimism:
The forecast is bad until late afternoon, and the rain is steady. Grey skies and mist all around at the moment. Play seems unlikely - we’d have to get in 20 overs a side to constitute a match.
Updated
While we wait for the toss, here is Raf’s report from Tuesday:
Preamble
Good morning! Today the series has upped sticks to Grace Road for the third and final ODI against Sri Lanka. Carrying wounded pride after losing the T20 series, England skipped away with the first match, a thrashing by seven wickets while the rain spoiled the second. They will be keen to finish on a high… play starts at 12.30, so grab your early lunch and join us. Emails happily and gratefully received!
