Women's World Cup - group stage

England 206-3 beat Sri Lanka 204-8 by seven wickets

ENGLAND picked up their second win of the 2017 Women's World Cup with a comfortable seven-wicket victory against Sri Lanka in front of over 3,000 spectators at the County Ground.

Four wickets for Laura Marsh helped restrict the visitors to 204-8, a total which was made to look inadequate as Sarah Taylor (76*) and captain Heather Knight (82) guided England home with 19.4 overs to spare.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the sunny conditions, Sri Lanka chose to bat first but began cautiously and took 3.4 overs to get off the mark.

Hasini Perara eventually got the scoreboard moving with back-to-back boundaries, and she then received a let-off as Danni Hazell dropped her at mid-off from the bowling of Anya Shrubsole.

It took the introduction of Natalie Sciver to bring the breakthrough, as she forced Nipuni Hansaka into a loose drive which was well caught by Western Storm player Fran Wilson in the covers.

That brought the in-form Chamari Atapattu to the crease, fresh from her superb 178* against Australia on Thursday, but she did not last as long on this occasion after edging Sciver behind having scored just a single to leave Sri Lanka 51-2.

Perera then fell in identical fashion, caught by wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor from the bowling of Laura Marsh having struck six boundaries in her 46, and Shashikala Siriwardene (33) became Marsh's second victim when she was bowled having a swipe across the line.

Sri Lanka then lost two wickets with the score on 130, the second of which came thanks to a superb diving Wilson catch at point as Manodara departed for 28.

When Lauren Winfield then caught Lokusooriya, Marsh had her fourth wicket and Sri Lanka were struggling on 145-7, but Ranasinghe and Kanchana combined to frustrate the hosts and add 45 for the eighth wicket.

Their resistance was broken when Wilson took her third catch of the innings to dismiss Ranasinghe off the bowling of Hazell, but some strong end their 50 overs on 204-8.

Catherine Brunt was unfortunate to go wicketless in her miserly spell of 0-25 from 10 overs, while Somerset's Anya Shrubsole ended with 0-50 after seeing two batters dropped off her bowling.

England's reply began breezily in relation to their opponents', with Lauren Winfield and Tammy Beaumont both finding the boundary early on, but the opening stand was ended with the score on 33 as Beaumont was lbw to Kanchana for 12.

The same bowler then accounted for Winfield, who skied an attempted on-drive which was well caught by Ranasinghe to leave England 50-2.

Any slight panic the hosts may have had was quashed by Taylor and Knight, however, as the pair quickly set about leading their side to victory.

Knight set the tone with an audacious ramped four to get off the mark, and her partner displayed her trademark innovation with scoring shots all around the wicket.

The pair rotated the strike well, milking the slower bowlers for singles to keep the scoreboard ticking over, and were ruthless in their dispatching of the bad balls.

One such savage pull from Taylor took the score to 100, and both players went on to reach their half centuries - Knight's took 57 balls and included five fours, while the wicketkeeper-batsman needed a ball longer and hit six boundaries on her way to the landmark.

Just as it looked like the pair would complete the job, Knight was caught at short mid-wicket and had to depart for 82 with just seven more runs needed.

Taylor, who spent the best part of a year out of the game due to mental health and anxiety related issues before returning in April, looked in fine form on a good Taunton wicket and started to express herself safe in the knowledge the game was won.

The 28-year-old hit five of her last seven deliveries for four and finished the match with successive boundaries to end on 74 from 67 balls as England completed a professional run chase.

Though the match came to a premature end, there was plenty of entertainment for the sizeable crowd to enjoy as Taunton showed why it has come to be known as the home of women's cricket over the years.

The host nation, who have now won two of their opening three matches, are next in action on Wednesday as they entertain South Africa in Bristol.