Danni Wyatt-Hodge lit up the opening sport of the Ladies’s T20 World Cup with a powerful hundred as England posted a tournament-record whole in a dominant win over Sri Lanka at Edgbaston.
Wyatt-Hodge (105no off 62 balls) scored only a seventh century in event historical past – and her third in T20 internationals – as an enormous roar from the packed residence crowd greeted her reaching the milestone off the penultimate ball of England’s innings.
After the 2026 Ladies’s T20 World Cup bought underneath means with a gravity-defying efficiency from the forged of the West Finish’s Depraved, England themselves reached new heights as they set Sri Lanka 220 to win – hovering previous the earlier document of 213 they set in opposition to Pakistan in 2023.
Amy Jones (53 off 38) and Nat Sciver-Brunt (46no off 22) chipped in with worthwhile contributions of their very own, though Sri Lanka have been left to rue dropping the previous twice – on 12 and 48 – in addition to the England captain when on 14.
In reply, Sri Lanka by no means got here near threatening England’s goal, Freya Kemp ending with very good figures of 4-21 – which included taking three wickets in 4 balls – as they have been bowled out for 132.
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Freya Kemp took three wickets in a single over as Sri Lanka collapsed of their chase in opposition to England
Wyatt-Hodge dedicates century to child daughter
Making England’s dominant show all of the extra spectacular is the truth that Sri Lanka received the toss and opted to insert the hosts, with Sciver-Brunt admitting she too would have most popular to bowl first.
However it proved a great toss to lose, as Wyatt-Hodge and Jones cashed in with a 135-run opening stand, one that actually got here to life when Jones was first put down on the deep-backward sq. boundary to finish fourth over, sparking a run of three fours off as many balls.
England introduced up their fifty contained in the six-over powerplay, whereas Wyatt-Hodge notched her particular person half century off 32 balls within the tenth over, celebrating in Bebeto ‘rock the child’ model – a becoming tribute to her new child child lady in addition to a nod to the beginning of the FIFA World Cup.
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Sri Lanka drop their second catch of the innings in opposition to England within the Ladies’s T20 World Cup
Wyatt-Hodge hammered the primary six of the event later in the identical over, and notched a most of her personal within the subsequent, earlier than Jones was put down once more within the twelfth – this one the worst of the lot as Sugandika Kumari shelled a easy, juggled likelihood off her personal bowling that she was even afforded two goes at.
Jones’ fifty got here three balls later, however she was lastly to perish within the 14th over when toe-ending one to Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu, who confirmed her costs the way it was carried out when claiming a formidable seize diving ahead at mid-off.
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Nat Sciver-Brunt introduced up 3,000 T20I runs with an outstanding six over further cowl in Edgbaston
Sciver-Brunt greater than saved the innings ticking, and it briefly appeared like she would possibly deny her team-mate her ton when hogging nearly all of the strike within the ultimate two overs of the innings that noticed a staggering 44 runs added!
4 boundaries and a six got here off the skipper’s bat earlier than Wyatt-Hodge – having contributed solely two singles to that time – introduced up her hundred with a few late fours of her personal, giving the child one other rock in celebration.
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Danni Wyatt-Hodge’s very good century set the tone for England
Kemp runs by Sri Lanka batting lineup
A goal of 220 was all the time more likely to be past Sri Lanka, and so it proved, with their trigger hardly helped by the early lack of each openers.
Lauren Bell (1-15) trapped Vishmi Gunaratne (6) lbw within the third over, whereas Wyatt-Hodge’s dream show continued with a terrific over-the-shoulder catch to Athapaththu (4).
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Danni Wyatt-Hodge took a sensational over-the-shoulder catch at deep sq. to dismiss Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu off Charlie Dean’s bowling
Linsey Smith (1-25) accounted for Imesha Dulani (7) cheaply, whereas Charlie Dean (2-18) claimed her second with the scalp of Hansima Karunaratne (11) to scale back Sri Lanka to 58-4 after eight overs.
Harshitha Samarawickrama (29 off 18) struck a number of lusty blows earlier than being cleaned up by Kemp, one in all three to be bowled by the left-arm fast as England romped in direction of victory.
The Sri Lanka tail wagged ever so barely to no less than guarantee they batted out their full 20-over allocation, with Sophie Ecclestone (2-27) finally taking the final two wickets.
Sciver-Brunt: ‘Huge’ win for ‘ruthless’ England
England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt:
“What a way to start off the first innings. Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Amy Jones looked so composed in what they were doing and built a huge platform for us to explode at the end.
“Sure completely [that was ruthless]. We have been actually composed and thought concerning the sport in a very great way. Within the second innings, beginning off with three wickets within the powerplay goes to make it tough to chase a rating like that down.
“A massive win for us and we’re really happy that that first game is done.”
‘Nice to get off to good begin’
Participant of the Match Danni Wyatt-Hodge:
“It was great fun out there. I really enjoyed playing in front of this amazing crowd here at Edgbaston.
“It is all the time nice to get off to a great begin in a World Cup as effectively. I actually loved enjoying on the market with Amy [Jones] after which Nat simply does what she does greatest on the finish there, simply hitting it to all components.
“We said how important it was to start well and we did that tonight. It’s always a really nice pitch here at Edgbaston and then our bowlers did incredibly well as well to keep them to that total on a really good pitch.
“Off to Southampton we go tomorrow and play Eire on Tuesday night time and hopefully we are able to do it once more.”
England’s Women’s T20 World Cup fixtures/results
All games live on Sky Sports, all times UK and Ireland
- Friday June 12 (Edgbaston): England beat Sri Lanka by 87 runs
- Tuesday June 16: England vs Ireland, Hampshire Bowl 6.30pm
- Saturday June 20: England vs Scotland, Headingley 6.30pm
- Wednesday June 24: England vs West Indies, Lord’s 6.30pm
- Saturday June 27: England vs New Zealand, The Oval 6.30pm
Everyone can stream all 12 group matches involving England, Scotland and Ireland, as well as the semi-finals and final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup live for FREE on the Sky Sports App.
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Watch each ball of the Ladies’s T20 World Cup completely dwell on Sky Sports activities and NOW by to the ultimate at Lord’s on July 5.
