Women's T20 World Cup 2026, ENG-W vs IRE-W 8th Match, Group 2 Match Preview

Who’s playing whom?

A rest day on Monday will be followed by a double-header on Tuesday. Defending champions New Zealand will take on Sri Lanka from 1.30pm GMT in Southampton, where New Zealand lost their opening fixture to West Indies. Sri Lanka are also coming off a defeat, having lost to hosts England in their first game. The contest has been largely one-sided, with New Zealand winning 14 of the 16 completed T20Is against Sri Lanka. However, they have lost two of the last four of those meetings, including the bilateral series in New Zealand in March, which ended in 1-1.

In the second game of the day that starts at 5.30pm GMT, England will face Ireland, who lost their opener to Scotland on Saturday. Ireland are without a win in 18 Women’s T20 World Cup matches. The teams have met only four times in T20Is, with England winning three, but Ireland winning the last clash, against a second-string England side in 2024. The hosts will start as overwhelming favourites again though.

Team news and likely XIs

Suzie Bates missed the opening game, marking the first time New Zealand played a women’s T20 World Cup match without her. It remains to be seen whether New Zealand stick with the same XI at the same venue or bring Bates back at the top, moving Izzy Gaze to No. 3. They could also consider recalling the experienced Lea Tahuhu into the XI before time runs out for New Zealand.

New Zealand (probable): 1 Georgia Plimmer, 2 Izzy Gaze (wk), 3 Melie Kerr (capt), 4 Sophie Devine, 5 Brooke Halliday, 6 Maddy Green, 7 Izzy Sharp, 8 Jess Kerr, 9 Nensi Patel, 10 & 11 Rosemary Mair/Bree Illing/Lea Tahuhu

Sri Lanka announced their XI several hours before the toss against England, with Malki Madara and Mithali Ayodhya making their World Cup debuts. Will the heavy defeat prompt a change in combination, with Hasini Perera returning to the top order?

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Vishmi Gunaratne, 2 Chamari Athapaththu (capt), 3 Imesha Dulani, 4 Harshitha Samarawickrama, 5 Hansima Karunaratne, 6 Kavisha Dilhari, 7 Nilakshika Silva, 8 Kaushini Nuthyangana (wk), 9 Sugandika Kumari, 10 Malki Madara, 11 Mithali Ayodhya

England, who fielded three frontline spinners against Sri Lanka, are likely to remain unchanged.

England (probable): 1 Danni Wyatt-Hodge, 2 Amy Jones, 3 Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), 4 Alice Capsey, 5 Heather Knight, 6 Freya Kemp, 7 Dani Gibson, 8 Charlie Dean, 9 Sophie Ecclestone, 10 Linsey Smith, 11 Lauren Bell

Ireland opted for two specialist spinners in Cara Murray and Aimee Maguire against Scotland, leaving out left-arm seamer Louise Little. They could go in unchanged.

Ireland (probable): 1 Amy Hunter (wk), 2 Alana Dalzell, 3 Gaby Lewis (capt), 4 Orla Prendergast, 5 Rebecca Stokell, 6 Leah Paul, 7 Alice Tector, 8 Arlene Kelly, 9 Ava Canning, 10 Cara Murray, 11 Aimee Maguire

Players to watch

Melie Kerr has perhaps never been more important to New Zealand than she is now. Since taking over as captain at the start of the year, she has amassed 477 runs in 11 innings and claimed 11 wickets in 12 matches. After a disappointing outing against West Indies, where she scored 5 and returned figures of 0 for 41, Melie will be eager to lead from the front and help New Zealand secure their first win of the tournament.

Sri Lanka have shown over time that they are not overly reliant on Chamari Athapaththu. Against England, only Harshitha Samarawickrama and Nilakshika Silva managed meaningful contributions with the bat, and at a brisk pace. The left-hand batter Samarawickrama, who has significantly improved her game in recent months, has scored 147 runs in five innings this year at a strike rate of 148.48 after managing just 97 runs in seven innings at 94.17 in a disappointing 2025. With two scores of 40-plus in her last four innings, Sri Lanka will need her to deliver again in the middle order.

Since the start of 2025, Charlie Dean has bowled more overs than any other England bowler (59.1) and has taken 23 wickets, the most by an England spinner in that period. Even when Sophie Ecclestone and Linsey Smith have struggled for control, Dean’s knack for making timely breakthroughs and shifting momentum has remained crucial.

Ireland will hope their captain, Gaby Lewis, can produce a big score against England. Still only 25, she is Ireland’s leading run-scorer in women’s T20Is and was also the top-scorer at the qualifiers in Nepal this year. As the cornerstone of the top order, Ireland will need Lewis to carry that form into Southampton.

Weather and conditions

Tuesday in Southampton is forecast to be partly sunny with some rain expected after 4pm local time, and temperatures climbing to 22 degrees Celsius. Only one match has been played at the venue so far, where West Indies successfully chased down 163 against New Zealand. The game was played on a hybrid surface with a healthy covering of live grass.

Quotes

“Playing a team like Australia, I know exactly how to bowl, I’ve bowled at these players plenty of times. A team like Ireland, you do have to do a little bit of research on who they are and how they might line up. But ultimately, in the same way I prep for any team, I know my strengths, I know my plans, and a lot of the time I don’t veer too far off from what I do best and what my strengths are.”
Lauren Bell has played only one T20I against Ireland

“I think we all know that that was not our standard in the field. We’ve trusted our skill in the past and we know it’s not a lack of skill or a lack of effort, it’s just one of those nights, cricket can be tough like that.  You can really underperform one night and then the next game can be a blinder in the field. We know we’ve got to move on from there, and yeah, we’re really confident going into the next game”
New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter Izzy Gaze

Srinidhi Ramanujam is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo

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