Sparkling Sciver-Brunt Ton Leads England to Thrilling Win Against Pakistan!

Sparkling Sciver-Brunt ton helps England beat Pakistan

Media caption: The best of Natalie Sciver-Brunt's unbeaten 124

Scorecard

Nat Sciver-Brunt's brilliant century led England to a 178-run victory over Pakistan in the third one-day international at Chelmsford.

The all-rounder hit 124 not out, including 14 fours and two sixes, pushing England to an impressive 302-5.

Sciver-Brunt then took 2-11, as Pakistan was all out for 124 while chasing an almost impossible record. Captain Nida Dar couldn't bat due to an injury.

Only opener Muneeba Ali, with a steady 47, and Aliya Riaz's 36 showed any fight for the visitors. Sophie Ecclestone took 3-15, including her 100th ODI wicket.

The convincing win gave England a 2-0 series victory, leaving Pakistan without a win on their white-ball tour.

The difference in quality between the teams was clear in this final game. Pakistan's fielding mistakes hurt them despite a generally good effort.

Opener Maia Bouchier scored 34 but was dropped on 25. Amy Jones was dropped on six before making 27. There was a double missed chance of a stumping and a catch when Sciver-Brunt was on 86.

The last mistake was the most costly. Sciver-Brunt and Alice Capsey, who made an unbeaten 39, added 47 runs in the last three overs.

England's summer continues with another white-ball series against New Zealand in June, before the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in October.

Sublime Sciver-Brunt at her best

Rain at Taunton in the second ODI stopped England from achieving a clean sweep, but despite not losing a match, they came to Chelmsford looking for a complete performance.

They were below par in all areas in the first ODI at Derby, but led by Sciver-Brunt's brilliance, they saved their best for last.

The lack of contributions from the top-order is still a worry, but Sciver-Brunt showed both skill and patience to steady the innings with a fourth-wicket stand of 79 with Danni Wyatt, who was aggressive with 44 from 42 balls.

Sciver-Brunt brings a sense of calm and control when she is at the crease. She played shots all around the ground, easily handling Pakistan's tired bowlers.

There were smooth cover drives, clever ramps past the keeper, and powerful sixes down the ground in the late overs with Capsey.

Her form in the 50-over format is amazing: since 2022, she averages 67.71 with the bat, including six centuries, with four of them unbeaten.

Completing five overs with the ball as part of her comeback from injury is also a big boost for skipper Heather Knight, who will hope to have her best player at full strength for the World Cup.

Ecclestone the history-maker

Media caption: Ecclestone takes back-to-back wickets to reach 100 ODI wickets

It has been a memorable series for left-arm spinner Ecclestone, Knight's key player in all formats.

In the second T20 at Northampton, she passed Katherine Sciver-Brunt to become England's all-time leading wicket-taker in the format at just 25 years old.

At Chelmsford, she became the fastest woman to take 100 ODI wickets in terms of innings (63) - one match less than Australian fast bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick.

Starting the match with 98 wickets, she got the needed two in two balls, trapping Umm-e-Hani lbw for four and having Nashra Sandhu caught at slip for a duck.

Aliya Riaz was caught at long-on for Ecclestone's third and the winning wicket as she expertly finished off the tail and was named player of the series.

Seamers Lauren Bell and Kate Cross did the early damage in the innings, reducing Pakistan to 45-3 from the 10-over powerplay and finishing with 2-26 and 1-19 respectively.

'One of our best ODI performances' - reaction

England captain Heather Knight:  "Really pleased with how we played today, we were disappointed after Derby but today was a complete performance.

"We’ve talked about being ruthless and we’ve done that today. One of our best ODI performances."

Player of the match, England's Nat Sciver-Brunt: "I had a great time and a great way to finish the series.

"I still wanted to put pressure on the bowlers [when first at the crease] as much as I could, get on strike and build a partnership. I had different partners along the way but it worked out well."

Pakistan bowler Fatima Sana:  "I think we started really well with our bowling, got a lot of wickets early on but we couldn't finish it off.

"We learned a lot of things, the guys played really well. Our players are young and we're learning a lot."

**Player of the series, England's Sophie Ecclestone:** "I’m not very good with stats but it feels amazing to overtake some of the people I watched growing up. I just came to enjoy it, I play my best when I enjoy it."