England have launched their home Women's Twenty20 World Cup in brutal fashion, crushing Sri Lanka by 87 runs at Edgbaston.
After making the highest total in tournament history, 1-219, on the back of an unbeaten 105 by opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge, England dismissed Sri Lanka for 132 on Friday (local time).
Left-arm pacer Freya Kemp took a career-best 4-21, including three wickets in one over that reduced Sri Lanka to 8-92.
But it was England's record-setting batting that shone on a sunny evening in front of 14,865 fans.
Wyatt-Hodge and Amy Jones, pushed up the order to open, combined for 100 inside 10 overs. Jones was dropped on 12 and 48 and was out for 53 off 38 balls, but her 135-run stand with Wyatt-Hodge was England's highest opening partnership in T20 World Cup history.
Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, only just back from a torn calf in April, was dropped on 14. However, her unbeaten 46 off 22 balls shot her past Charlotte Edwards, the former captain and current England coach, to be the country's highest run-scorer in T20 World Cups. Sciver-Brunt has 784 and Edwards 768.
Sciver-Brunt gave Wyatt-Hodge, on 97, the last two balls of the innings. She immediately hit behind square to the boundary, reaching the seventh hundred in tournament history and the second by an Englishwoman.
Wyatt-Hodge punched the air and made a baby-rocking celebration - she was only just back from maternity leave, after her wife gave birth to their first child on May 20.
"It was great fun out there," Wyatt-Hodge said. "My century celebration was for my daughter, Daisy. I hope TV got it."
She also hit the last delivery for four, her 13th, to finish her third T20 century 105 not out from 62 balls.
If that wasn't enough, Wyatt-Hodge took a brilliant catch, running from deep square leg, over her shoulder with a dive to remove Sri Lanka's biggest threat, captain Chamari Athapaththu (4), in the fourth over.
Wyatt-Hodge dropped her next two chances, but neither caused any great harm.
England make a statement on the opening night of the #T20WorldCup with a comprehensive win over Sri Lanka đ
â ICC (@ICC) June 12, 2026
Watch the full match highlights âŹď¸https://t.co/zI2ljtrghb
In the next matches on Saturday (local time), Ireland play Scotland, Australia take on South Africa, and defending champions New Zealand are up against the West Indies.
HIGHEST INDIVIDUAL SCORES AT WOMEN'S T20 WORLD CUP:
126, Meg Lanning, Australia vs Ireland, Sylhet, 2014
112no, Deandra Dottin, West Indies vs South Africa, Basseterre, 2010
108no, Heather Knight, England vs Thailand, Canberra, 2020
105no, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, England vs Sri Lanka, Birmingham, 2026
103, Harmanpreet Kaur, India vs New Zealand, Providence, 2018
102, Muneeba Ali, Pakistan vs Ireland, Cape Town, 2023
101, Lizelle Lee, South Africa vs Thailand, Canberra, 2020
