Nat Sciver-Brunt reflected with pride on her record-breaking century as England brought the curtain down on their summer in barnstorming fashion by thrashing Sri Lanka.
On her 100th ODI and captaining the side in the absence of the unwell Heather Knight, Sciver-Brunt demonstrated a masterclass in controlled aggression to peel off a stunning 66-ball hundred.
It was the fastest ton in a women’s ODI by an England batter – eclipsing Charlotte Edwards’ 70-ball effort from March 2012 – as the hosts prevailed by a whopping 161 runs to seal a 2-0 series win.
Sciver-Brunt holed out for 120 off 74 balls, her third three-figure score in her last four ODI innings, having helped England draw a gripping multi-format Ashes series with back-to-back hundreds in July.
“I’m really happy to bat the way I did and continue with what I was doing against Australia as well,” Sciver-Brunt said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Sciver-Brunt was rested from the preceding three T20s between the teams, where England suffered a shock defeat, but the 31-year-old has felt the benefit of some downtime in a hectic summer programme.
She has been managing a knee problem for several months and played in this series as a specialist batter but anticipates returning to all-rounder duties on England’s tour of India before Christmas.
“The decision not to bowl post-Ashes was more to give the body a bit of a rest,” she said. “I’m looking forward to picking up the ball again. I want to influence games as much as I can.
“That’s the best part of being an all-rounder and fielding for 50 overs and not really being able to influence with the ball was a little bit frustrating but I was happy to have the body break for that.
“When we play so much cricket through the summer, we probably don’t need to train too many things, just be right in the mind and body and hopefully continue that mindset that I had (in the Ashes).”
England were bogged down by Sri Lanka’s spinners in the T20s when batting first and may have feared the worst when Tammy Beaumont and Alice Capsey were dismissed early in a match reduced to 31 overs per side at Grace Road because of rain that led to the start time being pushed back by more than three hours.
But Sciver-Brunt exhibited why she is so instrumental, taking on the coterie of off-spinners and slow left-armers, punching with aplomb off the back foot and displaying her full range with fluid drives, pulls, sweeps and one scoop for 18 fours and a single six.
Maia Bouchier, featuring in just her third ODI and in her second innings in the format, provided ample support with 95 off only 65 balls. The 24-year-old opener crashed a dozen fours and two sixes in a 193-run stand from just 121 deliveries with Sciver-Brunt.
“She’s a fantastic player,” England head coach Jon Lewis said of his stand-in captain.
“It’s the calmness she brings – and I thought we saw that in abundance here. The calmness she brought to Maia in a situation when we were 18 for two, she’s come out with an authority.”
Sciver-Brunt was the first to three figures but Bouchier could have made sure her team-mate’s record lasted just a few minutes had she dispatched her 65th ball for six, only to be trapped lbw.
“I was absolutely gutted for her that she didn’t score a hundred because I know that when she does score a hundred, she’ll score a lot of hundreds,” Lewis added. “She’s incredibly talented.”
Sciver-Brunt and Bouchier underpinned a mammoth 273 for eight, a total which would have stretched Sri Lanka in a regulation 50-over game and the tourists were never in contention in the chase.
They capitulated to 112 all out in 24.5 overs, as Charlie Dean claimed five for 31, her maiden five-wicket haul for England which the off-spinner recognised was built on Sciver-Brunt’s stunning knock.
“She’s the best all-rounder in the world, the best batter,” Dean said. “She brings a lot to the team, she definitely elevates us with her standards alone.
“I guess she goes under the radar with her leadership – she’s so calm. We have so many players that can do similar but there’s only one Nat Sciver-Brunt.”
Marsh named captain in Australia's T20 World Cup squad as Smith and Fraser-McGurk miss out
Mitchell Marsh will captain Australia at next month's T20 World Cup, but Steve Smith and Jake Fraser-McGurk have been left out of the 15-man squad.
Marsh, who has shared the duties on an interim basis since Aaron Finch's retirement, was named the Baggy Greens' permanent T20 skipper on Wednesday.
Test captain Pat Cummins, fast bowler Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell have also been named in the squad, which features 11 of the players that were part of the team that won this tournament in 2021.
However, there is no place for former skipper Smith following a difficult spell of form, while Fraser-McGurk is also absent despite his impressive form in the Indian Premier League.
"This is an experienced squad with extensive World Cup experience that offers a variety of structures and covers the scenarios the panel believes will factor in the West Indies with the unique nature of the venues and our opponents," selection chief George Bailey said.
"Steve Smith, Matt Short, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson and Xavier Bartlett were all part of long conversations, along with several others, including Jake Fraser-McGurk who is yet to play T20 International cricket but continues to impress and is developing rapidly.
"Being constrained to a squad of 15 for World Cups is always a challenge given the different scenarios and options we’d like to cover.
"Ultimately, the balance of the final 15 needs to provide the best chance of being successful in this campaign."
"It's been an immense privilege to play for my country and now an even greater honour to lead the squad to a World Cup," Marsh added.
"We have had some strong success in recent times, and I am hopeful that will continue in what looks like a wide-open tournament."
Australia will begin their tournament against Oman on June 5, while they will also play England, Scotland and Namibia in Group B.
Australia's provisional squad:
Mitchell Marsh (captain), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Johnson Charles' unbeaten ton powers Windies A to 76-run victory over Nepal
In a dazzling display of power hitting, Johnson Charles led the charge for West Indies A with a spectacular unbeaten 119 from just 61 balls, guiding his team to a commanding 76-run victory over Nepal and taking a 2-1 lead in the T20 series in Kirtipur.
Charles's explosive innings included 13 fours and seven sixes as he anchored the West Indies A innings, propelling them to a formidable total of 227-3 against the hosts. His half-century came in a blistering 24 balls, setting the stage for a dominant performance. Charles formed a crucial second-wicket partnership of 145 runs with Andre Fletcher (53), after Alick Athanaze was run out for 17.
Fletcher's innings featured four fours and three sixes before he departed in the 16th over. Contributions from Fabian Allen (19 from nine balls) and Keemo Paul (13 from seven) further bolstered the West Indies A total, which marked the highest score by the tourists in the series so far.
In response, Nepal faced an uphill battle chasing more than 11 runs per over for victory and struggled under scoreboard pressure, losing wickets at regular intervals. Opener Lokesh Bam and Karan both managed 28 runs, while Kushal Malla contributed 20. However, Nepal ultimately collapsed to 151 all out in 19.2 overs.
Hayden Walsh Jr led the bowling attack for West Indies A with impressive figures of 3-28, while Gudakesh Motie provided valuable support with 2-28. Fabian Allen, Matthew Forde, and Obed McCoy also chipped in with a wicket each as the West Indies comfortably secured a pivotal series lead.
Johnson Charles' heroic innings and the collective effort from the West Indies A bowlers have positioned the team favorably as they head towards the remaining matches of the series, aiming to clinch the series victory against Nepal.
Imlach puts Harpy Eagles’ West Indies Championship success down to togetherness- “We had different players stand up at different times”
Togetherness was the main reason for the Guyana Harpy Eagles successful defence of their West Indies Championship title according to skipper Tevin Imlach.
The Harpy Eagles recovered from a draw and a loss in their first two games to win their final five games on their way to winning their second straight title.
“We had different players stand up at different times which is very important,” Imlach said in an appearance on the Mason & Guest radio show on Tuesday.
“You never want to rely on one or two players. We have a lot of depth in our batting and we have three very good spinners that would’ve played for the West Indies already in Gudakesh Motie, Veerasammy Permaul and Kevin Sinclair,” Imlach added.
Sinclair and Imlach finished third and sixth on the top run scorers list with 508 and 485 runs, respectively.
Sinclair made one hundred and two fifties and finished with an average of 63.50 in his seven games while Imlach, who missed the first two rounds of the tournament while on West Indies duty, made two hundreds and three fifties in his five games and finished with an average of 53.88.
The Harpy Eagles also had two more batsmen cross the 300-run mark in Kevlon Anderson (332) and Tagenarine Chanderpaul (323). Kemol Savory narrowly missed out on joining this club after finishing with 289. Chanderpaul and Savory also both scored a century, each, this season.
It was also a collective effort with the ball for the champions. Permaul led the way with 29 wickets in seven games followed by pacer Nial Smith who finished with 20 wickets from four matches.
Motie and Isai Thorne followed with 19 wickets from five and six matches, respectively, while Kevin Sinclair took 13 wickets in seven games and Ronaldo Alimohamed took 12 wickets in six outings.
This season was also Imlach’s first captaining the Harpy Eagles in the four-day format after taking over from the retired Leon Johnson who led Guyana to six regional four-day titles.
“It was challenging,” Imlach said about filling Johnson’s shoes.
“Big shoes to fill obviously with Leon Johnson retiring but it was good. It is much different when you play with these guys and when you’re in a leadership position because you have to be the one making the calls that they may not necessarily always like. These players want the ball in their hands at all times and want to make a difference so sometimes it is difficult. It’s a good learning experience. I’m learning about them and they’re learning about me as well,” he added.
Imlach was also a member of the West Indies Test squad to Australia in December last year. He said that despite not getting a game, he took some things from his net sessions down under into this first-class season.
“It was very good. It was different to what we are accustomed to in the Caribbean. The pitches are a lot bouncier and the ball tends to seam around a bit more. I didn’t manage to play in the games but I spent some time in the nets and it was good. It was fruitful. I learned a lot that I took into this season,” he said.
Imlach's next assignment could be as part of the regional side to take on England in three Tests from July 10-30.
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