Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt hailed England’s ruthlessness as they kicked off the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup with a ‘massive’ victory over Sri Lanka at Edgbaston.
Danni Wyatt-Hodge was the difference-maker for England, thrashing a fabulous 105 not out and then taking a stunning over-the-shoulder catch to dismiss Sri Lanka’s captain Chamari Athapaththu.
Wyatt-Hodge piled on 136 runs for the opening wicket alongside Amy Jones before 46 off 22 balls from Sciver-Brunt propelled England to 219-1 in 20 overs.
Sri Lanka never looked like overhauling England and slumped to 132 all out and an 87-run defeat, with Freya Kemp claiming an England-best 4-21 on her World Cup debut and Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone finishing with two wickets apiece.
“It’s a massive win for us,” Sciver-Brunt said on Sky Sports Cricket. “We’re really happy the first game is done.
“What a way to start off the first innings. Danni and Amy looked so composed in what they were doing and built a huge platform for us to explode at the end.
“I was really happy to find the middle. I had a couple of innings in the warm-up games, but nothing compares to being out there.”
Asked if England’s performance was ruthless, Sciver-Brunt added: “Yes, absolutely. We were really composed and thought about the game in a really good way.
“In the second innings, starting off with three wickets in the powerplay is going to make it difficult to chase a score like that down.”
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Freya Kemp took three wickets in one over as Sri Lanka collapsed in their chase against England.
In addition to being both her third and England’s fifth T20 century, Wyatt-Hodge’s ton was her first since wife Georgie gave birth to their daughter Daisy.
Reflecting on the cradle celebration she used to mark her century, Wyatt-Hodge added: “That was for Daisy, that little cradle. I hope TV got it.
“It was great fun out there. What a crowd. I really enjoyed playing in front of this amazing crowd here at Edgbaston.
“What a start. It’s always great to get off to a good start in a World Cup as well.
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Danni Wyatt-Hodge took a sensational over-the-shoulder catch at deep square to dismiss Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu off Charlie Dean’s bowling.
“I really enjoyed playing out there with Amy [Jones], and then Nat just does what she does best at the end there, just hitting it to all parts.
“We said how important it was to start well and we did that tonight. It’s always a really nice pitch here at Edgbaston, and then our bowlers did incredibly well as well to keep them to that total on a really good pitch.
“Off to Southampton we go tomorrow to play Ireland on Tuesday night, and hopefully we can do it again.”
Athapaththu won the toss and put England in to bat, a decision she lived to rue as they were set 220 for victory after England posted the biggest score in T20 World Cup history.
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Danni Wyatt-Hodge has a superb innings for England as she smashes a century against Sri Lanka.
After seeing six of her bowlers leak 23 fours and three sixes, her fielders drop three catches and squander the chance to run Wyatt-Hodge out in the powerplay, Athapaththu said her side needed to go back to the drawing board before facing New Zealand next.
“We didn’t play our best cricket today and, in all three departments, we were not at our best. That’s why we lost,” she said.
“The most important thing is attacking the stumps. The bowlers, especially the spinners, were bowling different lines and different areas. It’s not enough, we need to improve our bowling.
“We need to play our positive, fearless cricket all the time in the middle. We lost a couple of wickets in the powerplay and lost our momentum, so we have to improve our batting as well.
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Nat Sciver-Brunt brought up 3,000 T20I runs with a superb six over extra cover in Edgbaston.
“The next game is New Zealand, a tough team again. We played the first two games against two big teams, so we need to execute our plans better.
“We are going back to the drawing board to decide what we can do. We have to plan a few things and we will bounce back in the next game.”
England’s Women’s T20 World Cup fixtures/results
All games live on Sky Sports, all times UK and Ireland
Friday June 12 (Edgbaston): England beat Sri Lanka by 87 runsTuesday June 16: England vs Ireland, Hampshire Bowl 6.30pmSaturday June 20: England vs Scotland, Headingley 6.30pmWednesday June 24: England vs West Indies, Lord’s 6.30pmSaturday June 27: England vs New Zealand, The Oval 6.30pm
Everyone can stream all 12 group matches involving England, Scotland and Ireland, as well as the semi-finals and final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup live for FREE on the Sky Sports App.
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