Eight days ago, England were bowled out by Sri Lanka for 116 in 19 overs, and the coach, Jon Lewis, was having to field questions about the weakness of his batters against spin. On Thursday at Leicester, an almost identical side smashed 273 for 8 in a rain-reduced 31 overs against the same opposition, at a run rate of 8.8 – their quickest ever scoring rate in a one-day international – as they wrapped up their international summer with a dominant 161-run win. Sciver-Brunt and Dean help England to 2-0 ODI series win over Sri Lanka – as it happened Read more Almost identical, but not quite. The difference? England had endured a Nat Sciver-Brunt-shaped hole for the duration of the T20s, after Lewis chose to rest her. On Thursday she roared back to life, celebrating her 100th ODI by striking an astonishing 120 from 74 balls. In the process, she broke a record which had stood for 11 years, her 66-ball hundred becoming the fastest ever by an Englishwoman in ODI cricket, surpassing the 70-ball century struck by Charlotte Edwards against New Zealand in 2012. Charlie Dean then took a career-best five for 31 as Sri Lanka were bowled out after crawling to 112 in 24.5 overs. England’s Charlie Dean celebrates after taking the wicket of Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu. Charlie Dean had career-best figures of five for 31 in the victory over Sri Lanka. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters “When you play so much cricket through the summer, you don’t need to train too many things to be right in the mind and right in the body, and continue that mindset that I had [in the Ashes],” Sciver-Brunt said. “That’s what I was trying to do: rest through the T20 series and make sure I was switched on when it came to the ODIs.” Sciver-Brunt’s talismanic impact on the rest of the England team was symbolised by her 193-run partnership with Maia Bouchier, who had batted impatiently and recklessly throughout the T20s, managing scores of 22, 12 and 23. But on Thursday, against essentially the same bowling attack, she smashed a chanceless 95 from 65 balls, making the most of her elevation to the top of the order after Emma Lamb was again ruled out with a back spasm. Quick Guide How do I sign up for sport breaking news alerts? Show “What we saw in abundance today was the calmness she brought,” Lewis said of Sciver-Brunt. “It’s the authority that she brings, and the clinical way she goes about what she does, but also the way she communicates on the field. Nat would have talked Maia through that innings, and that’s the value of having someone of that seniority in the side.” Amid a hailstorm of boundaries – 18 fours and a six lofted effortlessly over long-off – Sciver-Brunt reached three figures uncharacteristically quietly, with a single tapped into the leg-side in the 24th over. Bouchier, though, fell agonisingly short of bringing up a century of her own, trapped lbw by Kavisha Dilhari in the 25th.