England got their World Cup campaign off to a flyer with an 87-run win against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston on Friday evening, thanks to a thundering century from Danni Wyatt-Hodge.
This was a statement win by England, whose batting firepower has recently been questioned but who powered their way to 219 – the highest total by any team in the history of the tournament – for the loss of just one wicket. Sri Lanka then sunk to 132 all out, with Freya Kemp taking a career-best four for 22.
As expected, Amy Jones was bumped up to open alongside Wyatt-Hodge, and a stand of 135 between the pair set the tone for England’s dominance. Jones was finally caught by Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu in the 14th over trying to go over the top, but Nat Sciver-Brunt looked if anything even more imperious, striking an unbeaten 46 from 22 balls.
The only question was whether, with Sciver-Brunt hogging the strike, Wyatt-Hodge would have the opportunity to reach her third T20i hundred. A nervy few minutes ensued, as Sciver-Brunt unleashed back-to-back boundaries in the 20th over, with Wyatt-Hodge at the other end trapped on 97.
But Sri Lanka helpfully cut off Sciver-Brunt’s next boundary attempt on the ring, enabling Wyatt-Hodge to get back on strike, sweep into the gap behind square for four, and bring up her century with a ball to spare. Wyatt-Hodge’s daughter Daisy was born just three weeks ago and she celebrated her ton by cradling her bat like a baby in tribute, as the Edgbaston crowd leapt to their feet in appreciation.
Wyatt-Hodge said: “I’ve been after that third T20 hundred for a few years now, so I’m chuffed to bits to get it. I’ve had a big life change the last few weeks, so it was pretty emotional. A few of the girls said they had a few tears.”
She followed up her innings by taking a crucial catch to dismiss Sri Lanka’s star batter Athapaththu. “I thought I was going to run into Jackie [Williams], the umpire,” Wyatt-Hodge said. “It was really windy and blustery. I lost the ball for a couple of seconds and then managed to see it, put my hands out and grabbed it.” With spots at a premium, some had questioned her place in this XI after missing so much of the early summer on parental leave: this performance was quite the riposte.
She followed it up by taking a crucial catch racing back from square leg to dismiss Athapaththu. “I thought I was going to run into Jackie [Williams], the umpire,” Wyatt-Hodge said. “It was really windy and blustery. I lost the ball for a couple of seconds and then managed to see it, put my hands out and grabbed it.”
With their talismanic skipper back in the dugout, Sri Lanka’s innings never quite got going, reduced to 67 for five as their batters tried to hit out before Kemp rattled through the middle order with some decent line-and-length bowling. “I’ve been calling her Big Dog Kemp,” Wyatt-Hodge joked. “She just keeps it simple and bowls on the stumps.”
Before play began, spectators had been treated to a unique tournament opening ceremony, as a pink taxi made its way around the Edgbaston outfield and deposited Wicked’s Elphaba and Glinda onto a stage at the City End of the ground. It wasn’t quite Shakira in Mexico City, but a live performance of Defying Gravity to a stadium of almost 15,000 still felt like a big moment for a sport which 53 years ago played out the first ever World Cup final here in front of just 1,500 fans.
The England and Wales Cricket Board have spent four years planning this tournament, but there was still room for some last-minute delays: first, the automated sightscreen at the Pavilion End malfunctioned at exactly the wrong moment; then a hapless steward wandered into view at the City End and had to be spoken to firmly by the umpires before he moved out of view.
When cricket finally broke out, Sri Lanka’s bowlers served up easy pickings for the English batters, in an innings which featured two no-balls and cost 11 wides. Their two World Cup debutants Malki Madara and Mithali Ayodhya, tasked with opening the bowling, were tonked for 51 and 40 runs respectively.
Sri Lanka coach Jamie Siddons said: “The bowlers didn’t bowl the ball in the right areas. The ball was flying around everywhere. We’re a better cricket team than that. We planned well, we just didn’t execute anything that we wanted to do.”
That included their fielding, which was also poor across the board: Jones was dropped twice, on 12 and 48, while Sciver-Brunt was also handed a life on 14. Apparently trusting your instincts, closing your eyes and leaping doesn’t work quite as well on the cricket field as it does in the West End.