Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt praised England’s ruthlessness as they opened the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup with a ‘massive’ win over Sri Lanka at Edgbaston.
Danni Wyatt-Hodge was the difference-maker for England, hitting a stunning 105 before taking a stunning over-the-shoulder catch to dismiss Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu.
Wyatt-Hodge piled on 136 runs for the opening wicket with Amy Jones and Sciver-Brunt’s 46 off 22 balls took England to 219-1 after 20 overs.
Sri Lanka never looked like they could completely dismantle England and were bowled out for 132 to lose by 87 runs. Freya Kemp took England’s best figures of 4-21 on her World Cup debut, while Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone finished with two wickets each.
“This is a huge win for us,” Sciver-Brunt said. sky sports cricket. “I’m really happy that the first game is over.
“The way they started the first inning was incredible. Danni and Amy looked very composed in what they were doing and set up a huge platform for us to explode at the end.
“I was really happy to find the middle. I played a few innings in the warm-up game, but nothing compares to being there.”
Asked whether England’s performance was ruthless, Sciver-Brunt added: “Yes, of course, we were really calm and we thought about the game in a really good way.
“If you start with three wickets in the powerplay in the second innings, it will be difficult to chase those scores.”
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Freya Kemp took three wickets in one go as Sri Lanka collapsed in the chase against England.
Wyatt-Hodge’s ton was not only her third and England’s fifth T20 century, but also her first century since wife Georgie gave birth to their daughter Daisy.
Recalling the crib celebration she held to mark her centenary, Wyatt-Hodge added: “It was for Daisy, that little cradle. I hope TV gets it.”
“It was great fun out there, the crowd was great, it was really fun to play in front of this amazing crowd here at Edgbaston.
“It’s a really good start. It’s always nice to get off to a good start at a World Cup.
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Danni Wyatt-Hodge took a sensational over-the-shoulder catch in deep square to dismiss Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu off the bowling of Charlie Dean.
“I really enjoyed playing with Amy (Jones) and Nat nailed every part of it, doing what he does best at the end.
“We’ve said how important it is to start well and we did that tonight. It’s always a really good pitch here at Edgbaston and our bowlers have done unbelievably well and maintained that total on a really good pitch.
“We travel to Southampton tomorrow to play Ireland on Tuesday night. Hopefully we can do it again.”
Athapaththu won the toss and put England into bat. She decided to regret it as England were set 220 for victory after recording the biggest score in T20 World Cup history.
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Danni Wyatt-Hodge played a superb innings for England as he smashed a century against Sri Lanka.
After seeing six of her bowlers leak 23 fours and three sixes, her fielders dropped three catches and wasted a chance to dismiss Wyatt-Hodge in the powerplay. Athapaththu said her team needs to get back to plan before they next face New Zealand.
“We didn’t play our best cricket today, we didn’t give our best in all three departments and that’s why we lost,” she said.
“The most important thing is to attack the stumps. The bowlers, especially the spinners, have bowled different lines and areas. That is not enough. We need to improve our bowling.
“We have to play positive and brave cricket all the time in the middle, we have to improve our batting as well because we lost two wickets in the powerplay and lost momentum.
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Nat Sciver-Brunt reached 3,000 T20I runs with a superb six-over extra cover at Edgbaston.
“The next game is against New Zealand, who are again a strong team. The first two games were against two big teams so we need to execute our plan better.
“We’re going back to the drawing board to decide what we can do. We’ve got to come up with some plans and we’ll be back in the next game.”
England Women’s T20 World Cup Schedule/Results
All matches will always be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland.
- Friday, June 12 (Edgbaston): England beat Sri Lanka by 87 runs.
- Tuesday June 16th: England v Ireland, Hampshire Bowl 6.30pm
- Saturday, June 20th: England v Scotland, Headingley, 6.30pm
- Wednesday 24 June: England v West Indies, Lord’s, 6.30pm
- Saturday, June 27th: England v New Zealand, The Oval 6.30pm
Anyone can stream the 12 group matches featuring England, Scotland and Ireland as well as the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals and finals for free via the Sky Sports app.
Simply download the latest version of the Sky Sports app to your phone or tablet and log in.
Download the Sky Sports app here:
Watch every ball of the Women’s T20 World Cup live exclusively on Sky Sports from now until the final at Lord’s on 5 July.
