3rd ODI: Amy Jones, Tammy Beaumont star in England’s series sweep

England women complete a 3-0 series sweep after winning the third ODI by eight wickets.

After bowlers restricted Sri Lanka women to 174, Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont powered England to an eight-wicket win in the third ODI at the Air Force Ground in Katunayake on Thursday and completed a 3-0 series sweep.

While Jones, who ended the three-match series with 209 runs, scored 76, Beaumont scored 63 as the opening pair put up a 127-run partnership in the 175-run chase. Although the two were not in the middle as the visitors won the game, as England hit the winning runs, Lauren Winfield and skipper Heather Knight made sure England cross the finish line with 27.1 overs to spare.

Electing to bat, the hometeam was in a spot of bother, having lost four wickets with just 52 runs on the board. While Kate Cross dismissed the openers – Hasini Perera and Chamari Athapaththu, Alex Hartley and Laura Marsh dismissed Anushka Sanjeewani and Shashikala Siriwardene respectively to leave Sri Lanka in a spot of bother.

Harshitha Madavi and Hansima Karunaratne then tried to steady the Sri Lankan innings with a 53-run stand before Anya Shrubsole removed the latter for 28. Harshitha Madavi was the next to get out with the score was 127.  While Oshadi Ranasinghe, scoring 28 off 25 balls, tried to help Sri Lanka put up a respectable on board, Sri Lamla could eventually score only 174.

England team, who were chasing a cleansweep in a series, which is a part of ICC Championship Match, chased down the target in the 27th over to win the series 3-0.

Brief scores: England women 177/2 (Amy Ellen Jones 76, Tammy Beaumont 63; Shashikala Siriwardene 2/56) beat Sri Lanka women (Harshitha Madavi 42, Oshadi Ranasinghe 29; Kate Cross 2/25) by eight wickets