Priest ton sets up big New Zealand Women win

Opener Rachel Priest's maiden century set up New Zealand's 96-run win over Sri Lanka in the first Women's ODI in Lincoln. Besides going 1-0 up in the five-match series, New Zealand have moved up to fourth on the ICC women's championship points table.

Asked to bat, New Zealand ran up a big score thanks to their top-three batsmen. After captain Suzie Bates (38) and Priest added 84 runs for the first wicket, Priest raised 131 runs in the company of Amy Satterthwaite, who made 69 off 72 balls.

While there weren't any major contributions after Priest and Satterthwaite departed in the space of three overs, the hosts made enough to stifle their opponents. Left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera cleaned up the lower order and finished with four wickets.

Sri Lanka's reply had a good beginning, as Chamari Atapattu put on 54 runs with Prasadini Weerakkody, but once Weerakkody was run out, wickets began to fall at regular intervals. Only Atapattu resisted for the visitors, but with little support from the other batsmen, the chase was never on. Offspinner Leigh Kasperek accounted for four wickets, including those of Atapattu and captain Shashikala Siriwardene.