BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — England launched its home Women's Twenty20 World Cup in style by crushing Sri Lanka by 87 runs at Edgbaston on Friday.
After making the highest total in tournament history — 219-1 — with 105 not out by opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge, England dismissed Sri Lanka for 132.
Left-arm pacer Freya Kemp took a career-best 4-21 including three wickets in one over that reduced Sri Lanka to 92-8.
But it was England's record-setting batting that shone on a sunny evening in front of 14,865 fans.
Wyatt-Hodge and Amy Jones, who was pushed up the order to open, combined for 100 inside 10 overs. Jones was dropped on 12 and 48 and was out for 53 off 38 balls. But her's and Wyatt-Hodge's stand of 135 was England's highest opening partnership in T20 World Cup history.
Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, only just back from a torn calf in April, was dropped on 14. But her unbeaten 46 off 22 balls shot her past Charlotte Edwards, the former captain and current England coach, to be England's highest run-scorer in T20 World Cups. Sciver-Brunt has 784 and Edwards 768.
Sciver-Brunt gave Wyatt-Hodge, on 97, the last two balls of the innings. She immediately hit behind square to the boundary, reaching the seventh hundred in tournament history and the second by an Englishwoman.
She punched the air and made a baby-rocking celebration a la Brazil's Bebeto in the 1994 men's soccer World Cup. Wyatt-Hodge was only just back from maternity leave. Her wife gave birth to their first child on May 20.
“It was great fun out there,” Wyatt-Hodge said. “My century celebration was for my daughter Daisy. I hope TV got it.”
She also hit the last delivery for four, her 13th, to finish her third T20 century 105 not out from 62 balls.
If that wasn't enough, Wyatt-Hodge took a brilliant catch, running from deep square leg, over her shoulder with a dive to remove Sri Lanka’s biggest threat, captain Chamari Athapaththu, on 4 in the fourth over.
Wyatt-Hodge dropped her next two chances but neither caused any great harm.
On Saturday, it's Ireland vs. Scotland, Australia vs. South Africa, and defending champion New Zealand vs. West Indies.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
CA Is Burning said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.