T20 World Cup: Hosts England launched the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 in emphatic fashion, defeating Sri Lanka by 87 runs at Edgbaston on Friday after posting a tournament-record total of 219/1.
The score of 219/1 beat England’s highest score in a WT20I to date and set the scene for a commanding performance by Nat Sciver-Brunt's team as they kickstarted their campaign with a bang.
Put into bat, England started slowly but accelerated as the powerplay ended, ending on 51/0 at the end of the first six overs, an opening 135-run partnership between Amy Jones and Danni Wyatt-Hodge laid the foundations for a big score.
Having been dropped twice already, at 12 and 48, Jones made Sri Lanka pay scoring 53 from just 38 balls for her seventh T20I half-century. She finally fell for 53 in the 14th over mistiming a drive back to Malki Madara who held a great catch at mid-off.
It proved to be just a momentary lapse of concentration however, as Wyatt-Hodge continued to dominate with one of the innings of the tournament, carrying her bat all the way through to an unbeaten 105 off 62 balls including 13 fours and a six, while playing brilliantly against a decent Sri Lanka attack.
It was an especially proud innings for Wyatt-Hodge, whose partner Georgie had given birth to their first child on May 20. Just four days later she is now the second Englishwoman to score a T20 World Cup century and just the seventh woman to score one in the history of the WT20 WC.
Her hundred arrived with a sweep to the boundary and she signed off the innings with another. England had scored 26 off the final over.
Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt played a great cameo with a late, powerful 46 from just 22 balls to see the score reach a massive 219/1.
Chasing a huge total, Sri Lanka never got going as the home side took quick wickets. Captain Chamari Athapaththu fell for just four in the fourth over after taking a stunning catch behind the stumps from Charlie Dean as England ran rampant on a dominant powerplay of 39/3.
Harshitha Samarawickrama held the innings together for Sri Lanka with 29 which contained 3 boundaries and a six, but she was ended by Freya Kemp with a straight delivery that went through her defence. Kemp bowled brilliantly with subtle variations, finding herself on a hat-trick at one point and finishing with figures of 4-22 off four overs, with the hosts left to ponder a big loss.
Chasing a huge total, Sri Lanka never got going as the home side took quick wickets. Captain Chamari Athapaththu fell for just four in the fourth over after taking a stunning catch behind the stumps from Charlie Dean as England ran rampant on a dominant powerplay of 39/3.
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The win was commanding and continued England’s unbeaten run in home World Cup matches. The England women’s team has never lost a World Cup, be it ODI or T20I, on home soil and their dominance is a real sign of intent from the team as they look to retain the title.