Australia was in no mood for charity at the CricInfo Women's World Cup today and Sri Lanka was on the receiving end of a 200-run hiding at Christchurch's Hagley Oval.

Karen Rolton used the occasion to dish out a lesson in attacking batting against a bowling attack which started well but which wilted as the pressure was applied.

Even the fielding effort of the Sri Lankans, which started out as an impressive display as the Australians were surprisingly held to 0-27 in the first 10 overs, was blown apart with dropped catches and missed fielding blemishes marring their effort.

Rolton surpassed her highest score of 113 not out and was unbeaten at the end on 154 scored off 118 balls which included 19 fours.

She's now scored 1230 ODI runs at an average of 45.55 and it was her second ODI century. She has also scored eight 50s.

The figures of her innings tell the story of her aggression. Her 50 came off 39 balls, her century off 85 balls and her 150 off 115 balls.

Rolton shared a 117-run second wicket stand off 125 balls with Lisa Keightley and 129 for the third wicket with Olivia Magno.

At the end she was having target practice, choosing her spot and hitting at will. She was dropped twice. The first occasion was on 113 and the second on 116.

"It was hard work. The bounce of the pitch was a little up and down and slow, especially compared to Lincoln," she said.

"You have to work hard no matter what you are facing. But I have been hitting the ball well lately both in games and in training," she said.

Rolton's last innings before coming to New Zealand for the tournament was an 89 not out in a men's C grade game for Port Adelaide in South Australia.

"In a situation like today you have to try to bat right through."

While she offered the two chances with about eight -10 overs to go she said there were eight wickets in hand and it was worth taking the risks.

"We had no total in mind before we went out to bat. We just wanted to score as many as we could," she said.

The Sri Lankan bowlers, Rasanjali Silva and Chamani Senaviratne, found useful movement through the air to demand caution from the Australian openers and picked up the wicket of Belinda Clark for 18 runs.

After scoring one in the earlier game against New Zealand, it is clear someone soon is going to suffer for Clark's poor start to the tournament.

Keightley produced a solid 56, her 50 coming off 83 balls while Magno was run out for 38 from the last ball of the game.

Sri Lanka never got started in its innings. Cathryn Fitzpatrick picked up the first wicket before a run had been scored.

Deduna de Silva (17) and Hiruka Fernando (15) provided some brief respite from the relentless Australia assault but it was only a matter of time.

Firstly, Julie Hayes found pitch conditions suited her bowling and took the first two wickets to fall for 16 runs, then Avril Fahey picked up 3-10 from her seven overs.

All out for 82, Sri Lanka was left knowing that it has a lot of work to do to be competitive when it most needs it against the lesser sides of the competition.

© CricInfo