Danni Wyatt-Hodge ton powers England to victory in tournament opener

England's opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge starred with a 62-ball 105, only the seventh ton in Women's T20 World Cup history, to set up a massive 87-run victory over Sri Lanka in the Women's T20 World Cup 2026. Amy Jones, Wyatt-Hodge's first partner, scored a 38-ball 53, and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt contributed a 22-ball 46 to propel the tournament hosts to a staggering 219/1 in 20 overs. Sri Lanka, which was chasing, was far short of the intimidating total in the end. England scored a total of 23 goals, 13 of which were scored by Wyatt-Hodge. The Sri Lankan bowlers had a rough time at Edgbaston thanks to the three batters hitting sixes each. Wyatt-Hodge hit the first four of the World Cup on the evening, cutting a delivery from Mithali Ayodhya. Amy Jones almost went down early, but Chamari Athapaththu missed a tough shot at deep square leg. After that, Wyatt-Hodge hit three fours in the fifth over to get going against Malki Madara. Within the Powerplay, England reached 50 and continued to score throughout the middle. The scoring rate increased to 10-an-over after two significant post-Powerplay overs, and Wyatt-Hodge scored her 32-ball fifty in the tenth over. She also threw the tournament's first six in the same over. She and Amy Jones, who also started to play loose, put up their third century stand in T20Is for the first wicket. Even though Malki Madara defeated Jones in the 14th over, the pattern of the second half of the innings remained largely the same. Captain Sciver-Brunt showed up swinging for the fences and succeeded in connecting most of her attempts. As England approached the 200-run mark, Sciver-Brunt launched into the bowlers at the death, hitting two fours off Kavisha Dilhari and three off Ayodhya. After that, England scored the highest team total in Women's T20 World Cup history with a score of 200 after a 26-run final over in which Wyatt-Hodge hit her century. Sri Lanka was obviously too far from the chase. They were down to 37/3 in the Powerplay, so it was almost over before it started. Vishmi Gunaratne, Athapaththu, and Imesha Dulani, the top three, left with single-digit scores. After that, Freya Kemp slammed the middle-over for a score of 4/22, and Sri Lanka also lost the rest of the chase. The best Sri Lankan batting effort, led by No. 7 batter Nilakshika Silva's 33-ball 39, summed up the chase's direction. Sophie Ecclestone and Charlotte Dean each took two wickets as Sri Lanka were dismissed for just 132 on the final delivery.