England

England make it nine wins in a row to seal series v Sri Lanka

England

It was England’s fifth successive win on the tour, and their ninth limited-overs win on the trot since the pair of defeats at the hands of India Women in Mumbai. The win also gave England the series with a game to spare. The visitors had also swept the three ICC Women's Championship one-day internationals that preceded this series.

Having won the toss, Sri Lanka batted first, and although their openers built a somewhat solid platform, with a 45-run stand, the others weren't quite able to capitalise, with England's bowlers making regular inroads. That hampered Sri Lanka's run-rate, and eventually, they were just about able to get past the 100-run mark.

Things began unravelling once captain Chamari Athapaththu was dismissed for 24 by Natalie Sciver. Shashikala Siriwardana struck two fours in her 13-ball 15, but was soon trapped in front by Sophia Dunkley. Mendis fell soon after as Heather Knight bowled her for 15, and Sri Lanka slipped from 45/0 to 65/3.

Wickets continued to fall and Sri Lanka were simply unable to score boundaries. Only one four – off Oshade Ranasinghe's bat – was struck in the last 9.4 overs.

Katherine Brunt finished with a couple of wickets, but was a tad expensive, conceding 31 runs from her four overs. Lauren Marsh, Sciver, Dunkley and Knight all claimed a wicket each, none of them conceding over five runs an over.

The middling chase caused England few troubles as Danielle Wyatt and Amy Jones set off to a rollicking start, putting on 79 runs within eight overs, before the former was stumped for a 25-ball 37 off Siriwardana's off-spin.

Jones, too, perished to the same bowler a short while later, for a 24-ball 36, but the damage had already been inflicted by then. Tammy Beaumont (16* off 21) and Sciver (10* off 13) then took take their side over the line with plenty to spare.