Danni Wyatt-Hodge gets England off to a flying start in T20 World Cup
Sri Lanka were brushed aside at Edgbaston.
New mother Danni Wyatt-Hodge thrashed an unbeaten hundred as England started the Women’s T20 World Cup with a bang, setting a new tournament record total in a demolition job of Sri Lanka.
After the cast of ‘Wicked’ performed before the tournament curtain-raiser, Wyatt-Hodge, whose wife Georgie gave birth to their daughter Daisy last month, took centre stage with a fabulous 105 not out.
It was just England’s fifth women’s T20 hundred and Wyatt-Hodge now has three of them as she propelled her side to 219 for one at Edgbaston, eclipsing the 213 for five they made against Pakistan in 2023.
Sri Lanka’s six bowlers leaked 23 fours and three sixes while their fielders dropped three catches and could have run out Wyatt-Hodge in the powerplay. They never looked like overhauling England and subsided to 132 all out to lose by 87 runs.
Freya Kemp claimed an England best four for 21, while Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone finished with two wickets apiece.
Nat Sciver-Brunt was earlier spilled on 14 before amassing a quickfire 46 not out in her first competitive outing since April 29 following a calf tear after Amy Jones had made 53, having been put down on 12 and 48.
But the star of the show was Wyatt-Hodge, who got England motoring with three fours in an over off seamer Malki Madara as Sri Lanka’s bowlers repeatedly fed the opener’s favoured cut shot.
Wyatt-Hodge, who had made single-figure scores in each of her last three knocks since returning from maternity leave, was short of her ground on 27 when attempting a quick single off Mithali Ayodhya.
She hardly looked back from then on, hammering Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu’s spin for six – to go with 13 fours – to bring up a 32-ball fifty, with her and Jones also running hard between the wickets.
The pair put on 135 before Jones limply drove Malki to mid-off as Sri Lanka finally held on to one although Sciver-Brunt upped the ante with Wyatt-Hodge closing in on three figures.
Indeed, the only obstacle to her getting there was Sciver-Brunt flaying boundaries towards the end of the innings but the England captain took a single with two deliveries left in Malki’s 10-ball final over and, on 96, Wyatt-Hodge made no mistake with a sweep for four to bring up her ton.
It came off just 61 balls, while it was the shot which brought up the highest ever total at this tournament, and Wyatt-Hodge cradled her bat in a baby-rocking celebration.
There was no keeping Wyatt-Hodge out of the game when she took a fantastic catch over her shoulder on the run after Sri Lanka star batter Athapaththu had top-edged a sweep off spinner Dean.
Sri Lanka’s highest ever T20 total is 191 for six against India in December last year although their hopes here all but evaporated after slipping to 39 for three after the powerplay, with seamer Lauren Bell and left-arm spinner Linsey Smith also in the wickets.
Wyatt-Hodge spilled a couple of difficult chances later on but Sri Lanka lost wickets at regular intervals, with Kemp coming to the fore as she dismissed Kavisha Dilhari, Kaushini Nuthyangana and Sugandika Kumari in the space of four balls.
Dilhari holed out before left-arm seamer Kemp disturbed the stumps off Nuthyangana and Kumari with back-to-back deliveries. Ecclestone then claimed Sri Lanka’s last two wickets in the final over to complete an excellent start to the tournament for England.