Posts

England Thrash Sri Lanka by 87 Runs to Open Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 in Style

Image
Freya Kemp and Danni Wyatt-Hodge (PC: ECB) England began their home World Cup campaign with an emphatic victory over Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field first. England posted a mammoth 219/1 before bowling Sri Lanka out for 132. England persisted with the opening pair of Amy Jones and Danni Wyatt-Hodge, who have opened since the first warm-up game, and both batters launched an assault on the Sri Lankan bowling. The visitors often gifted them scoring opportunities, with the bowlers providing ample room, particularly to Danni. England raced to 51/0 at the end of the powerplay. It only got worse for Sri Lanka from there. England added another 84 runs in the next 7.3 overs before Malki Madara dismissed Amy Jones. By then, Jones had registered her second fifty of the T20 World Cup. Sri Lanka’s fielders did little to ease the pressure on their bowlers, with dropped catches and misfields compounding their misery. England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt joined Danni in the midd...
Post a Comment
Read more

Left-arm spin focus as India gear up for Pakistan challenge

Image
India Women Practice session (PC: RevSportz) Team India had their first practice session in Birmingham today ahead of their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 opener against arch-rivals Pakistan on June 14 at Edgbaston. At the King Edward’s School Ground (Eastern Road Sports Ground and Pavilion), the entire squad turned up for a lengthy three-hour session. Proceedings began with the usual warm-up drills before the players moved into the nets one by one. Interestingly, three separate nets were set up. In Net Two, openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma were seen batting together while facing Deepti Sharma, Kranti Gaud and two net bowlers — one seamer and one left-arm spinner. The seamer and Kranti bowled from both sides of the wicket, particularly at Shafali, testing the opener with bouncers. Overall, Shafali looked solid, but Smriti managed only a handful of well-timed shots. Apart from those, she appeared to struggle with her timing. The mistimed shots clearly left her frustrated, a...
Post a Comment
Read more

“The T20 World Cup preparation started immediately after the last one” – Amol Muzumdar

Image
Amol Muzumdar (PC: BCCI) With the 10th edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup underway, India are entering the tournament after nearly three weeks of preparation in England. Ahead of India’s campaign opener against Pakistan at Edgbaston on June 14, head coach Amol Muzumdar addressed the media following the team’s training session at King Edward’s School Ground in Birmingham. World Cup preparations began seven months ago Muzumdar revealed that India’s preparations for the tournament started immediately after their previous World Cup triumph in November. “The preparation for this T20 World Cup started immediately after the last one that we won,” he said. “The first series after that was against Sri Lanka and as a group we decided that all our energies would be focused on this event.” According to Muzumdar, the team has followed a structured six-to-seven-month roadmap leading into the tournament and has executed their plans as intended. Acclimatised to English conditions India arrive...
Post a Comment
Read more

“To Have the First Game as India–Pakistan is Good” – Smriti Mandhana Ahead of World Cup Opener

Image
Smriti_Mandhana (PC: BCCI Women/X) India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana believes beginning their World Cup campaign against Pakistan could help the team quickly adapt to the pressure and atmosphere of a global tournament. Speaking to Star Sports ahead of the much-anticipated clash on 14 June, Mandhana said that the opening fixture would give the players an opportunity to experience the intensity of a World Cup crowd from the very start. “To have the first game as India–Pakistan is good,” she said. Mandhana emphasised that playing in front of a packed stadium early in the tournament would help the squad settle into the occasion and prepare for the challenges that lie ahead. “All the girls will experience the crowd first-hand in the first game, so that will, more than off your back, I just feel it will make everyone used to the crowd going ahead in the different other matches.” She added that exposure to such an atmosphere in the opening game could benefit the team as the tournament pr...
Post a Comment
Read more

What next for ‘Project Nitish Kumar Reddy?’

Image
Nitish_Kumar_Reddy (PC:X) For 189 deliveries, a promising cricketer locked horns against a great attack, fought with his inner demons, and eventually ended up as the shining light at the colosseum of MCG in the Boxing Day Test. It turns out to be the one evocative memory of Nitish Kumar Reddy that millions of Indian cricket fans would carry forward for generations. But his detractors could very well argue with the following line: what has Nitish done while facing the rest of his 502 offerings in Test cricket? And that point could be extended to the shorter formats of the game as well. At the moment, there is no fitting riposte to the hard numbers on display. However, sometimes, to locate the answer, one has to peel the outside layers of the black box. And that is where you unearth the name, ‘Project Nitish Reddy.’ Unfortunately, India have a dearth of quality pace-bowling all-rounders. Hardik Pandya, the experienced campaigner, has filled that role with distinction in limi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Win or lose, the Women’s T20 World Cup needs to be covered with the same intensity

Image
Image: BCCI Women India don’t go into the T20 World Cup as favourites, and this is known to anyone who follows the sport closely. Unlike in the 50-over format, which India has mastered, the T20 format is still not India’s strength when it comes to the women’s game. It is exactly the opposite for the men. India’s prowess in men’s T20 cricket is now widely acknowledged. Not so in the 50-over game, where Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill need to create a template and prove a point. Coming to the Women’s T20 World Cup, the truth is that India will have to beat one of either South Africa or Australia to make the semi-finals. And it is a very difficult task. India recently lost a series against South Africa 1–4 and Australia will always be the team to beat in the women’s game. This is where we need to back the team. There is momentum in the sport post the World Cup win back home and, from that standpoint, the T20 World Cup is of enormous importance. If the team isn’t able to go the distance...
Post a Comment
Read more

“In the future, we should be expected to beat teams like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on a regular basis” – Graeme West

Image
Ireland Women_T20 World Cup 2026 (PC: Ireland Cricket) Ireland will begin their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign against Scotland in Manchester on June 13. The side heads into the mega event with plenty of confidence after a string of encouraging performances. They defeated West Indies and Pakistan in the recent home tri-series, pushed South Africa close despite ending up on the losing side, and then beat Bangladesh in one of their two warm-up matches. Ahead of their tournament opener, Cricket Ireland High Performance Director Graeme West spoke exclusively to RevSportz about expectations from the team, the current structure of women’s cricket in Ireland and the importance of playing top-ranked nations regularly. West expects the side to continue building on the progress reflected in their recent performances and results. “Sort of the expectation is that they continue to show that growth, and it has been reflected in those results over the last couple of weeks, which is reall...
Post a Comment
Read more