Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt hailed England’s ruthlessness as they kicked off the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup with a ‘massive’ victory over Sri Lanka at Edgbaston.Danni Wyatt-Hodge was the difference-maker for England, thrashing a fabulous 105 not out and then taking a stunning over-the-shoulder catch to dismiss Sri Lanka’s captain Chamari Athapaththu.
Wyatt-Hodge piled on 136 runs for the opening wicket alongside Amy Jones before 46 off 22 balls from Sciver-Brunt propelled England to 219-1 in 20 overs.
Sri Lanka never looked like overhauling England and slumped to 132 all out and an 87-run defeat, with Freya Kemp claiming an England-best 4-21 on her World Cup debut and Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone finishing with two wickets apiece.”It’s a massive win for us,” Sciver-Brunt said on Sky Sports Cricket. “We’re really happy the first game is done.
“What a way to start off the first innings. Danni and Amy looked so composed in what they were doing and built a huge platform for us to explode at the end.
“I was really happy to find the middle. I had a couple of innings in the warm-up games, but nothing compares to being out there.”
Asked if England’s performance was ruthless, Sciver-Brunt added: “Yes, absolutely. We were really composed and thought about the game in a really good way.”In the second innings, starting off with three wickets in the powerplay is going to make it difficult to chase a score like that down.”
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Freya Kemp took three wickets in one over as Sri Lanka collapsed in their chase against England.
In addition to being both her third and England’s fifth T20 century, Wyatt-Hodge’s ton was her first since wife Georgie gave birth to their daughter Daisy.Reflecting on the cradle celebration she used to mark her century, Wyatt-Hodge added: “That was for Daisy, that little cradle. I hope TV got it.”It was great fun out there. What a crowd. I really enjoyed playing in front of this amazing crowd here at Edgbaston.”What a start. It’s always great to get off to a good start in a World Cup as well.
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2026-06-12 23:23:00
