England kickstart Women’s T20 WC with victory over Sri Lanka:Register victory by 87 runs; Wyatt-Hodge’s ton, Freya Kemp grabs 4 wickets

Host England has started its campaign in the Women’s T20 World Cup with a win. They defeated Sri Lanka by 87 runs in the opening match on Friday night. Before the match, British actress Emma Kingston and actress-singer Gigi Strolen performed at the opening ceremony. At Edgbaston ground in Birmingham, Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl. Batting first, England scored 219 runs for one wicket in 20 overs. In reply, the Sri Lankan team could only score 132 runs for 10 wickets in 20 overs. 21-year-old Freya Kemp took 4 wickets in her T20 World Cup debut match. English opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge was chosen as the Player of the Match for her century. Match Highlights Wyatt-Hodge’s first century after becoming a mother English opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge played an unbeaten century innings of 219 runs. She hit 13 fours and one six in her 62-ball innings. Wyatt-Hodge has scored her first century after becoming a mother. This 35-year-old senior batter scored her third century in T20 Internationals. She completed her half-century with a boundary on the 33rd ball. Then, in the style of Brazilian footballer Bebeto, she performed the ‘rock-a-baby’ celebration. She dedicated this century to her daughter Danni Wyatt-Hodge, who is playing her 8th T20 World Cup. 135-run partnership between English openers, Amy Jones’ fifty In the match, Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu won the toss and decided to bowl first. She had said that they were not fully familiar with the conditions here. It had also rained here a day earlier. However, this decision proved to be wrong. England’s opening pair Wyatt-Hodge and Amy Jones (50 runs) batted aggressively from the start, making a partnership of 135 runs off 82 balls. This is the third-largest opening partnership in the history of the Women’s T20 World Cup. England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, returning from a calf injury (strain in leg muscles), played an unbeaten innings of 46 runs. Sri Lanka’s batting failed while chasing the target of 220 Runs The Sri Lankan team, chasing a target of 220 runs, failed with the bat. Their start was poor, and wickets kept falling continuously. The captain tried all six of England’s bowlers in the initial 9 overs. Captain Chamari Athapaththu could not play a big innings. She was caught out by Wyatt-Hodge, who took an excellent running catch near the boundary at deep square leg. Freya Kemp took 3 wickets in 4 balls England’s left-arm fast bowler Freya Kemp proved to be a nightmare for Sri Lanka’s lower order. Returning after recovering from a back injury (stress fracture), Kemp put on a brilliant performance. She took 4 wickets for 21 runs. By taking 3 wickets within 4 balls, she dashed Sri Lanka’s remaining hopes. In the last over of the match, experienced spinner Sophie Ecclestone took the remaining 2 wickets to wrap up Sri Lanka’s innings. Facts of England vs Sri Lanka women’s T20 WC match