Birmingham : Host England fashioned a blockbuster start, piling on a tournament high of 219/1 in the opening match against Sri Lanka in Edgbaston on Friday.
By doing so, England overhauled their own record of 213/5 set against Pakistan in 2023.
It was Danni Wyatt-Hodge who set the ball rolling with an unbeaten 105. Carrying that confidence in the field, England dismissed Sri Lanka for 132 for a statement 87-run win.
Nat Sciver-Brunt’s side is not just grappling with the pressure of playing a home World Cup, but also have history to contend with — England women’s team have never lost a World Cup they have hosted, either ODI or T20I.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka are chasing their first title at the World Cup.
After being put into bat, England started cautiously, hitting the accelerator just before the end of powerplay to score 51/0 in the first six over.
A 135-run opening wicket partnership between Amy Jones (53) and Wyatt-Hodge gave them the perfect launchpad. They kept pressing the advantage, making sure they got the quick ones and twos even though the boundaries flowed easily.
It has been a life-changing month for Wyatt-Hodge, whose partner Georgie gave birth to their first child on May 20. Just a few days later, she came out to score the opening hundred of the World Cup, seventh in the tournament history and only second by an English woman.
She made the most of the width afforded to her. Wyatt-Hodge brought up the milestone with a sweep for four and put a exclamation on a historic innings for England with another boundary on the final ball.
That meant, England scored 26 runs from the final over. Carrying her bat through, Wyatt-Hodge ended at 105 off 62, with the help of 13 fours and a six.
Jones was a tad lucky as she was dropped on 12 and then again on 48. She brought up her seventh half-century in T20Is, scoring 53 off 38.
Sri Lanka struggled to hit the spots with the ball and were sloppy in field as well. They finally got a breakthrough in the 14th over as Jones mistimed a delivery by Malki Madara and ended up spooning a catch to Athapaththu at mid off.
However, that didn’t halt the English juggernaut. Skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt, who has recently recovered from injury, played with conviction and innovation to score 46 off 22.
Chasing a record target, Sri Lanka never really got going. Talismanic skipper Chamari Athapaththu fell for four in the fourth over, courtesy an incredible catch from wicketkeeper Wyatt-Hodge off Charlie Dean and Sri Lanka slipped to 39/3 in powerplay.
The only glimmer of hope was Harshitha Samarawickrama, who struck three fours and a six for 29. But Freya Kemp snuffed out the danger, as she got the ball to straighten and get past Samarawickrama’s defence.
Left-arm pacer Kemp, on a hat-trick at one point, impressed with her intelligent change-ups and finished with 4/22 in her four overs.
Lower down the order, Nilakshika Silva came up with a gritty 39, the highest score for Sri Lanka on the day, but it was too little too late.
‘Doing it for Daisy’: Wyatt-Hodge reveals inspiration for ton
Centurion Danni Wyatt-Hodge has revealed her new baby Daisy was the inspiration behind her match-winning knock for England against Sri Lanka in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup opener at Edgbaston on Friday.
Wyatt-Hodge only welcomed her first child into the world last month and the England veteran wasted little time in showing what it meant to her as she guided her side to a first-up victory over Sri Lanka in Birmingham with an unbeaten innings of 105*.
It was Wyatt-Hodge’s third T20I century of her career as the damaging right-hander became just the second England player to achieve the feat at a Women’s T20 World Cup after former skipper Heather Knight reached triple figures against Thailand at the same event in Australia in 2020.
Wyatt-Hodge had to wait until the penultimate legal delivery of England’s innings before she reached her milestone, with the 35-year-old celebrating bringing up her century by imitating rocking her baby and hugging captain Nat Sciver-Brunt in front of a parochial home crowd.
“I think I was on about 90 and I was like, I could actually get 100 now and do it for Daisy,” she recalled after England’s 87-run victory.
“The girl (Malki Madara) that was bowling was going quite slow and wide and square (leg) was up, so I was like, right, let’s just jump across and try and hoick at it and try and get it through the gap.
“And once I saw it pierce the gap and go for four, as you can see…I was really happy.
“I’ve been after that third T20I hundred for a few years now, so I was chuffed a bit to get it out there at Edgbaston in front of my family as well. It was really, really special.”
Wyatt-Hodge will get the chance to link up with Daisy in Southampton ahead of England’s next match at the T20 World Cup when they take on Ireland at the Hampshire Bowl on Tuesday.
And the confident England batter is hoping she can replicate her efforts and score yet another century, this time in front of her new child.
“I’ve not seen Daisy since I joined up, but I’ll see her tomorrow in Southampton, so I’m really looking forward to that,” Wyatt-Hodge said.
“It feels like I’ve not seen her for months and it just puts a whole new perspective on things.
“It’s all I think about, even in the night as well. It’s just incredible and I can’t wait for her to come and cheer us on for the rest of the tournament.
“I really wanted to get a fifty for Daisy and then obviously got the 100. So that was a really special moment to do it for the family.
“Obviously I’ve had a big life change the last few weeks, so yeah, it was pretty emotional.
“I think a few of the girls said they had a few tears, so yeah, hopefully we can do it again in front of her this time.”
A first child and a century at a home T20 World Cup all in the space of a few weeks for Danni Wyatt-Hodge.
