“It was a game where consistency and execution clearly separated the two sides”
England Women opened their 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup campaign in dominant style. They beat Sri Lanka Women by 87 runs in Birmingham.
England batted first and posted a strong total of 219/1. Danni Wyatt-Hodge led the innings with an unbeaten 105 off 62 balls. Amy Jones supported well with 53 runs. The pair built a massive opening partnership that put England in control early.
Sri Lanka’s bowlers struggled to contain the scoring. Malki Madara took their only wicket of the innings.
Sri Lanka started their chase but lost early momentum. England’s bowlers applied constant pressure and kept taking wickets. Sri Lanka were eventually bowled out for 132 runs. Nilakshika Silva scored 39, while Harshitha Samarawickrama added 29.
Freya Kemp led the bowling attack with an excellent spell of 4/22. Sophie Ecclestone and Charlie Dean took two wickets each. The rest of the attack supported with tight bowling and regular breakthroughs.
England controlled the match from start to finish. They started the tournament with a strong all-round performance. Sri Lanka will look to improve in their next game.