Wednesday 28 June 2017 14:13, UK
"It's not like I don't want to go to a hundred," England's Nat Sciver says with a wry grin, as she discusses her struggle to convert fifties into triple figures the afternoon before she scores her maiden international century to help England to their first win of the World Cup.
"I need to be more patient and back myself that I can make a big score and build an innings. We'll get there." And what a way she did.
A little under 24 hours later, Sciver produced a coming-of-age performance. On eight occasions she had passed 50 in one-day internationals but failed to make it to triple figures. There would not be a ninth.
"Certainly for England [that's my most significant innings]," she says after the 107-run victory. "It's a really special day and to have my family there as well is really good.
"I'd been feeling pretty good all season. I'd had a few good games for my county and felt good in the warm-ups. It's just a relief to get to three figures. It was kind of in the making, so I just had to do the basics well enough to get the opportunity to get a century."
Categorised by many as simply a power-hitter, here Sciver demonstrated her maturity with the bat, producing an innings of control over clout. That's not to suggest Sciver didn't dispatch generous deliveries to the boundary, as well as some on a decent line and length. However, crucially she saw her team to a position of superiority before unleashing a succession of rasping shots over the ropes that took her to 137 off 92 balls.
Rocking at 42-2, England needed to regroup and ensure there was no collapse. Sciver and captain Heather Knight did just that to the tune of a record-equalling 213-run third-wicket partnership.
"It's something that we've recognised before now that when we play with intent we play at our best," Sciver says, reflecting on the opening match and evident in their display at Grace Road against Pakistan. "It's just having that confidence in the middle to believe in yourself and back yourself to play with intent, then it almost becomes a bit easier. So that's something to work on mentally also."
That self-assured temperament is something Sciver has no trouble embracing, the confidence instilled by coach Mark Robinson evident throughout the squad.
For Sciver, it is most clear in her batting. "When I go into bat, I can take a bit of time because I know I can catch up again later. When we don't have the scoreboard, I don't feel like I'm going slowly or anything. It often turns out I've hit more runs than I've faced balls, so yeah I believe in myself that I can catch up in the end. It's not something I think about when I go in straight away."
Sciver has made a huge impact on the team since debuting in 2013. She has the best current ODI strike-rate in the world for anyone over 10 innings, and is compared to Ben Stokes for her all-rounder ability by coach Mark Robinson and skipper Knight.
Part of the youthful contingent in a rejuvenated England side, her hundred comes at timely juncture, with in-form opener Lauren Winfield missing the first two World Cup matches through a wrist injury.
"Tammy [Beaumont] and Lauren have been batting well together over the last year and obviously it's massively unlucky for her to be injured at such a terrible time," Sciver says. "We're hoping to get her back in the latter stages of the tournament. In terms of our batting order we back every one of our batters to play the role that they're need to, so yeah there was a little bit of unease but I don't think it was too distracting."
Nothing could divert her attention away from scoring a maiden century, her calm nature in the middle down to her early family travels due to her mum's diplomatic work, she claims.
The talk of her remarkable upbringing - she was born in Japan with stints in Poland and the Netherlands before settling full-time in England in her early teens - is a topic she's happy to discuss but clearly tired of repeating, so too the rhetoric of showing up boys as a youngster.
It's an understandable stance to take. Sciver is not someone to live in the past, and with the speedy progression of her career, it's hard enough keeping up with the present. "I should probably take more time to look at what I've achieved and put things into perspective. Because when I started university I was far from being where I am now. I enjoyed the uni life in the first year, so a long way off from being an England cricketer."
She has no such concerns now, she is front and central of this exciting England team.
Watch every match of the ICC Women's World Cup on Sky Sports' platforms - check out the full schedule here - including England Women against Sri Lanka Women from 10.20am on Sunday.
