England and Sri Lanka Kick Off T20 World Cup at Edgbaston

Opening match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026: Hosts England vs Sri Lanka at Edgbaston, Birmingham. Date: Friday, June 12, 2026 – 6:30 PM local time. Edgbaston is one of 7 venues, hosting 4 fixtures including this opener.

England arrive at the tournament having won four out of the six matches since the start of the year, while Sri Lanka come in with momentum on their side, riding on five consecutive T20I wins that include series wins against West Indies and Bangladesh.

Expanded to 12 teams for the first time, up from 10.Format: Two groups of 6, top 2 go to semis. Final at Lord’s on July 5.This is the highest-selling Women’s T20 World Cup yet, with 150,000+ tickets sold 3 weeks out. England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt warmed up with a half-century against India in the warm-up game on her return from calf injury. She is set to play as a batter for now and hopes to bowl towards the back-end of the tournament.

England: Favourites at home, led by Nat Sciver-Brunt. Squad includes Heather Knight, Amy Jones, Sophie Ecclestone, Alice Capsey. Won the inaugural 2009 edition but failed to win since. Sri Lanka: Led by Chamari Athapaththu, looking for an upset. Harshitha Samarawickrama and Kaushani Nuthyangana also key.H2H: England lead 10-2 in 12 T20I meetings. Opening ceremony: Cast of Wicked will perform live ahead of the match – first time a musical has opened a global sports event.

The forecast points to clear skies in Birmingham on Friday evening. There was however some rain in the area on the eve of the match.

Lauren Bell has been in spectacular form all year, starting with the WPL where she finished with 12 wickets in nine games and was often a handful with the new ball. After picking three wickets in two games against New Zealand, she bagged seven wickets in three matches in the T20I series win against India. She's bowled at an economy of 7.4 this year, and the home conditions are likely to suit her perfectly.

Both Teams Probable XI's

England

Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver-Brunt (c), Alice Capsey, Heather Knight, Freya Kemp, Dani Gibson, Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Linsey Smith, Lauren Bell

Sri Lanka

Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu (c), Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Hansima Karunaratne, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshika de Silva, Kaushini Nuthyangana (wk), Malki Madara, Sugandika Kumari, Kawya Kavindi/Chetana Vimukthi

Bottom line: Edgbaston hosts the curtain-raiser for the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, with hosts England taking on Sri Lanka in Group A to kick off the expanded 12-team tournament.