England got off to a dominant start in the first Metro Bank ODI as they bowled Sri Lanka out for 106 at Chester-le-Street.
It was a morning to remember for debutants Mahika Gaur and Lauren Filer as both bowlers took three wickets each along with Sarah Glenn, while Alice Capsey picked up the other.
Gaur claimed her first ODI wicket when she took the top of Chamari Athapaththu’s off-stump in the fifth over to dismiss the influential captain before shortly sending Anushka Sanjeewani’s middle stump flying.
Sri Lanka’s troubles further deepened when Glenn came into the attack in the 11th over and made an instant impact to pin Vishmi Gunaratne lbw.
Filer then struck when Hasini Perera feathered the ball to Amy Jones behind the stumps and her debut got even better with two wickets in the 20th over to spark Sri Lanka’s collapse.
The 22-year-old had Kavisha Dilhari caught behind with Jones making a fine grab to her right and then dismissed Nilakshi de Silva the following ball in a similar fashion.
Harshitha Samarawickrama looked to get Sri Lanka up to a competitive total, but she fell for 35 off Alice Capsey after a review showed the ball just brushing her bat on the way through to Jones.
And just after Sri Lanka brought up their 100, Glenn earned her second with another thinly-edged ball well taken by Jones before bowling Achini Kulasuriya.
Gaur wrapped the innings get one through the gate to bowl Udeshika Prabodhani and set England a 107-run target.
