Dominant England mercilessly punish toothless Sri Lanka

England (219/1) beat Sri Lanka (132 all out) by 87 runs

• Wyatt-Hodge produces the mother of all innings

• Sciver-Brunt cameo sees England cruise past 200

• Jones cements place at the top of the order with half-century

• Kemp takes four wickets to complete a clinical win

England began their home T20 World Cup in commanding fashion in front of nearly 15,000 spectators, easily defeating Sri Lanka in a one-sided contest at Edgbaston. A clinical and destructive century by new mum Danni Wyatt-Hodge, aptly celebrated with a “rocking the cradle” celebration made an England win an inevitability as the hosts scored 219/1.

Sri Lanka won the toss and asked England to bat on a bright and blustery evening in Birmingham. The pre-match show, provided by the cast of the West End musical “Wicked” brought some showbiz dazzle and glitter to this part of the West Midlands, before the cricket began.

Alongside Wyatt-Hodge, Amy Jones opened the batting for England, replacing the out-of-form Sophia Dunkley at the top of the order. And the opening pair could not have had a more comfortable and trouble-free introduction to the 2026 World Cup, as Sri Lanka’s bowlers one by one served up dozens of the tastiest pies one could ever imagine. It felt like one was attending a farmers’ market at Melton Mowbray rather than witnessing the pinnacle of the global game. Amy Jones did not appear to be at her destructive best, only occasionally timing the ball as well as she can, but it mattered not. She cruised to 53 from 38 balls, before being the first (and only) England wicket to fall in the 14^th over.

At the other end, Wyatt-Hodge, all lithe energy and quick-fire reflexes at the crease, was dispatching the ball to all areas. The two openers were alert to the possibility of singles and twos throughout. In fact, Sri Lanka managed to bowl only 20 dots in the entire innings, testament to the quality of England’s running between wickets but also to the wayward nature of the Sri Lankan fielding and bowling, which included 11 wides, Malki Madara being particularly culpable as she went for 26 runs from the final over of the innings to help England reach their mammoth total.

Nat Sciver-Brunt, arriving at the crease following the dismissal of Jones with six overs to go, nonchalantly struck 46 from 22 balls. In fact, so successful and dominant was she that it appeared at one point that Wyatt-Hodge would miss out on her century as she was starved of the strike by her captain. But with two balls remaining and with her score on 97, she finally had the chance to reach three figures. Madara served up two more portions of tarte à la viande which were gleefully sent across the boundary sponge to bring up her landmark score and end the innings on a high.

Sri Lanka’s reply was always going to be a damage limitation exercise. The enterprising Harshitha Samarawickrama showed more resistance than most in her 29 from 18 balls, whilst Nilakshi de Silva made sure that the innings continued until the final over with 39 from 32 balls. 

In that final over, Sri Lanka were finally dismissed for 132, giving England an 87-run win. There will be more challenging days than this for England during this World Cup. In many ways, they needed this game to be a greater obstacle than it eventually proved as the host nation prepare for the games that will define success for them in this competition. 

On the positive side, Wyatt-Hodge’s century was a wonderful moment and sets the tone for England’s batters. Nat Sciver-Brunt’s cameo augurs well for the rest of the tournament, when one suspects she will be required to make more decisive contributions. More surprisingly, Freya Kemp was the pick of the bowlers, with figures of 4/22 from her four overs, which was a most welcome boost for England as they try to strike the right balance in their team in the absence of Sciver Brunt’s medium pace.

Sri Lanka looked lost. Conditions would have been unfamiliar for some of the group, but they looked well short of their best in all three departments. Their best hope of qualification lies squarely on the shoulders of Chamari Athapaththu, but even she cannot win games for them if their bowlers concede over 10 runs per over.

Tuesday’s game at Southampton against New Zealand now becomes a must-win game for them and one suspects that Scotland and Ireland will have looked at today’s performance and believed that they too could beat this Sri Lanka team in English conditions. It could be a long and painful three weeks for them.