Women’s T20 World Cup: England’s Danny Watt-Hodge fires hosts to dominant win over Sri Lanka in tournament opener | cricket news

Danny Watt-Hodge lit up the Women’s T20 World Cup opener with a brilliant century as England posted a tournament-record total in a dominant win over Sri Lanka at Edgbaston.

Wyatt-Hodge (105 not out from 62 balls) scored just the seventh century in the tournament’s history – and his third in T20 internationals – to reach the milestone with the last ball of England’s innings to a roar from a packed home crowd.

After the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup began with a gravity-defying performance from the cast of West End Wicked, England reached new heights themselves as they set Sri Lanka to 220 to win – eclipsing the previous record of 213 against Pakistan in 2023.

Amy Jones (53 off 38) and Nat Syver-Brant (46 off 22) made valuable contributions of their own, though Sri Lanka were out twice on 12 and 48 – and the England captain on 14.

In reply, Sri Lanka never came close to threatening England’s target, with Freya Kemp finishing with impressive figures of 4-21 – including three wickets from four balls – as they were bowled out for 132.

Wyatt-Hodge dedicates century to baby girl

Making England’s dominant display all the more impressive was the fact that Sri Lanka had won the toss and elected to field the hosts, with Syver-Brant admitting that he too would have preferred to bowl first.

But it proved a good one to lose the toss, as Watt-Hodge and Jones cashed in on an opening stand of 135, which really came to life when Jones was dropped to the deep-back square boundary to end the fourth over, as much as a run for three boundaries.

England brought up their fifty in the six-over powerplay, while Watt-Hodge hit his personal half-century off 32 balls in the 10th over, Bebeto celebrating in ‘rock the baby’ style – a fitting tribute to his newborn daughter as well as a nod to the start of the FIFA World Cup.

Watt-Hodge hit his first six of the tournament in the same over and later hit his highest six, before Jones was dropped again in the 12th over – worst of all because Sugandika Kumari shelled a simple, juggled chance off her own bowling to get even at two.

Jones’ fifty came three balls later, but he was ultimately destroyed in the 14th over when toe-ending to Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapathu, who showed his complaints how it was done when he claimed an impressive diving forward grab at mid-off.

Cyver-Brant more than sustained the innings, and briefly looked like he might deny his teammate his ton when hogging most of the strike in the last two overs of the innings, adding a staggering 44 runs!

Four boundaries and a six came off the captain’s bat before Watt-Hodge – having contributed just two singles at this point – brought up the century with a couple of last fours of his own, giving the youngster another rock in celebration.

Kemp ran through Sri Lanka’s batting lineup

A target of 220 was always likely to overtake Sri Lanka, and so it proved, with early losses to both openers doing little to help their cause.

Lauren Bell (1-15) trapped Bishmi Gunaratne (6) lbw in the third over, while Watt-Hodge’s dream display continued with a superb over-the-shoulder catch to Athapathu (4).

Linsey Smith (1-25) accounted for Imesh Dulaney (7) cheaply, and Charlie Dean (2-18) claimed his second with the scalp of Hansima Karunaratne (11) to reduce Sri Lanka to 58-4 after eight overs.

Harshita Samarawickrama (29 off 18) made a couple of limp knocks before being cleaned-up by Kemp, one of three left-arm quick bowls to lead England to victory.

Sri Lanka’s tail moved little to ensure they batted their full allocation of 20-overs, with Sophie Ecclestone (2-27) eventually taking the last two wickets.

Sciver-Brunt: ‘Essential’ win for ‘ruthless’ England

England captain Nat Syver-Brant:

“What a way to start the first innings. Danny Watt-Hodge and Amy Jones looked very composed in what they were doing and created a huge platform for us to explode at the end.

“Yes absolutely (it was ruthless). We were really composed and thought about the game really well. In the second innings, starting with three wickets in the powerplay will make it difficult to chase down scores like that.

“A massive win for us and we’re really happy to get the first game done.”

‘Great to get off to a good start’

Man of the Match Danny Watt-Hodge:

“It was great fun there. I really enjoyed playing in front of this amazing crowd here at Edgbaston.

“It’s always great to get off to a good start in the World Cup as well. I really enjoyed playing there with Amy (Jones) and then Nate doing what he does best there at the end, hitting all the pieces.

“We said how important it was to get off to a good start and we did that tonight. The pitch here at Edgbaston is always excellent and then our bowlers did incredibly well and held on to that total on a really good pitch.

“We go to Southampton tomorrow and play Ireland on Tuesday night and hopefully we can do it again.”

England 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 16 June: England v Ireland, Hampshire Bowl 6.30pm
• Saturday 20 June: England v Scotland, 6.30pm at Headingley
• Wednesday 24 June: England v West Indies, Lord’s 6.30 pm
• Saturday 27 June: England v New Zealand, 6.30pm at The Oval

Everyone can stream the 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.

All you need to do is download the latest version of the Sky Sports app on your phone or tablet and log in.

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Watch every ball of the Women’s T20 World Cup live exclusively on Sky Sports and now Final at Lord’s on July 5.