Nat Sciver-Brunt marked her first World Cup as a parent with a run-a-ball 117 and an understated baby-rock celebration, guiding England to a 253-for-9 total and, ultimately, an 89-run victory over Sri Lanka in Colombo. Three wins from three keeps England nicely placed, even if the batting beyond their captain still looks a touch flimsy.
The personal twist came off the field. Six-month-old Theo and wife Katherine, the former England seamer, had slipped quietly into the ground a few hours earlier after a last-minute dash from the UK. When the hundred arrived, the gesture was obvious.
“For Theo, that one,” Sciver-Brunt said. “I had sort of spoken about it a little bit with Katherine, but you never know if you’re going to get another hundred, I suppose. It was in the back of my mind a little bit. They’ve come out to Sri Lanka to watch me, so I thought I’d give back to them for supporting me.”
The reunion took some wrangling. Flights from Guwahati to Colombo then on to India again with a baby in tow are hardly straightforward, and Sciver-Brunt had resigned herself to a month apart. A previously unscheduled stop-over in Sri Lanka changed things.
“It was a really nice bonus for her to be able to come out here,” she explained. “She had to take on the flight alone with Theo. It was a lot for her to commit to. I’m glad I made it worth their while.”
England certainly needed the innings. Amy Jones, Tammy Beaumont and Heather Knight all reached double figures without pushing on, and no one else managed twenty. Sciver-Brunt was dropped on three, a sharp chance at slip, and Sri Lanka paid heavily. Nine fours, two sixes and, crucially, a calm reading of conditions kept England moving while left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera collected 3 for 33.
Sri Lanka’s reply threatened only briefly. Opener Hasini Perera and vice-captain Harshitha Samarawickrama added 58 while Chamari Athapaththu, dealing with cramp, received treatment off the field, yet once the skipper returned Sophie Ecclestone settled matters. Her left-arm orthodox spin – all drift, dip and unerring length – produced 4 for 17, including Athapaththu through the gate, and the hosts subsided for 164.
“In terms of leading the team, I probably don’t think about that so much when I’m batting,” Sciver-Brunt said. “I may pick up things here and there about the wicket and what would be best for our bowlers and thinking in that way but when I’m a batter I’m a batter and I really have worked on trying to focus on that, on one thing at a time.”
The skipper’s clarity showed. She moved fluently against pace, used the crease against spin and, once past fifty, nudged rather than forced the rate. Fielders spread, singles arrived, England’s dug-out relaxed.
From Sri Lanka’s viewpoint the middle-order collapse proved decisive. England’s seamers went wicketless, but Ecclestone and Charlie Dean, who slid through ten overs for 29, exposed a line-up still reliant on Athapaththu’s belligerence. “The left-arm spinner is the hardest to line up on slow pitches,” former England coach Mark Robinson noted on commentary, a reminder that classic spin remains a World Cup trump card.
Room for improvement? Certainly. Lower-order runs look scarce, and England leaked too many extras in the first ten overs. But three group matches, three wins, and a captain finding new motivation in family life represents a tidy start.
“It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster in terms of missing them,” Sciver-Brunt added. “I obviously got a bit more sleep when they were at home but it’s really nice to have them here and to tour the world with your family, it’s really, really special.”
Next up is India in Visakhapatnam. If the captain keeps batting like this, Theo may be in for a few more midnight flights.
