With the Women’s T20 World Cup looming into view, this three-match series across the green swards of Chelmsford, Bristol and Taunton shapes as ideal preparation for two teams with designs on the trophy.

For England, it is vital that they can hone their plans and approach – in particular, role definition – after the best part of a year without playing the format (before they took on New Zealand in Derby last week, their previous T20I had been against India in July 2025). That planning has been further hampered by the absence of captain Nat Sciver Brunt  through injury, though they overcame that disadvantage to see off New Zealand by a 2-1 scoreline.

High on England’s list of wants will be time in the middle for a new-look opening pair of Sophia Dunkley and Alice Capsey, as well as further opportunities for Dani Gibson  and Freya Kemp to establish their credentials as all-round options after injury. Three blemish-free performances in the field would also go down nicely.

India, the reigning 50-over world champions, won a historic first T20I series on these shores last summer and – in contrast to England – have been in regular action since, although they followed up victory in Australia at the start of the year with an unexpected 4-1 reversal on their most-recent tour, to South Africa in April.

Injuries to key allrounders have changed the balance of their side slightly, but they remain able to call on a formidable group of players as they seek to follow Australia in holding the women’s ODI and T20I titles at the same time. All but three of the squad have the experience of playing T20Is in England, while the new faces include uncapped seamer Nandani Sharma, who finished as joint-leading wicket-taker at the most-recent WPL.

Sophie Ecclestone ought to be one of England’s trump cards as they target a home World Cup win. Previously the No. 1-ranked bowler in women’s T20Is (she currently sits third), Ecclestone is closing in on becoming only the fourth woman to 150 wickets in the format. But she has made a quiet start to England’s international season, with one wicket in three outings against New Zealand (two T20Is, one ODI), which included getting thumped for 18 in an over by Sophie Devine in Derby. Figures of 1 for 11 from four suffocating overs in Hove on Monday hinted at a return to her best.

Talking of totemic forces, Smriti Mandhana once again shapes as key to India’s challenge. Still only 29, but already the second-highest run-scorer of all time in the format – Mandhana is currently 427 runs behind the soon-to-be-retired Suzies Bates – she will be hoping to replicate last year’s English experience, when she was the leading run-scorer on either side across five T20Is, which included notching a maiden T20I hundred at Trent Bridge. She only made 62 runs in three innings in South Africa, but topped the run charts at the WPL earlier in the year and has lots of good memories of touring in this part of the world.

England will welcome back Dani Wyatt Hodge from parental leave, although she won’t be available for the first T20I; Charis Pavely has been released to play for Warwickshire, but Maia Bouchier will remain with the squad. Lauren Filer will also be allowed to leave for Durham’s Blast game at The Oval on Wednesday, but will rejoin England for the rest of the series. Tilly Corteen-Coleman, the 18-year-old slow left-armer, awaits her debut in this format.

Amanjot Kaur was one of the stars of India’s victory in England last year but misses this tour with a back injury – as does her understudy Kashvee Gautam (knee). The top six is pretty much locked in, although Bharti Fulmali could provide an option if India want to pack the batting. Radha Yadav is also back in contention, having last played a T20I on the England tour, and could add all-round depth.

England (probable): Sophia Dunkley, Alice Capsey, Maia Bouchier, Heather Knight, Freya Kemp, Amy Jones (wk), Dani Gibson,  Charlie Dean (capt), Sophie Ecclestone, Issy Wong, Lindsey Smith

India (probable): Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Shreyanka Patil/Bharti Fulmali, Arundhati Reddy,  Renuka Singh, Kranti Gaud, N Shree Charani

[Cricinfo]

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), under the direction of the Cricket Transformation Committee launched a special program aimed at educating and developing school cricket coaches in the country.

The inaugural session of the program was held on Monday, 25th May, at the High Performance Center of the SLC with the participation of 74 coaches representing Division ‘1’ and ‘2’ schools.

The Head Coach of the Sri Lanka Men’s Team  Gary Kirsten conducted a two-hour session for the participating coaches.
During the session, Kirsten shared valuable insights into modern coaching methods and highlighted key areas coaches should focus on in order to nurture talented and promising young cricketers.

He emphasized the importance of creating a friendly and supportive environment for children while teaching them cricketing skills. Kirsten also noted that coaches must continuously improve their own skill levels in order to develop successful players.

He encouraged school coaches to focus more on producing good cricketers rather than simply concentrating on winning matches.

Joining Kirsten at the program were Ryan van Niekerk, National Bowling Coach, and Jordan Gregory, National Fielding and Spin Bowling Coach, who also shared their expertise and experiences with the school coaches.

Sidath Wettimuny, Chairman of the Cricket Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket, who is also a member of the Cricket Transformation Committee, made the introductory speech of the program.

The program also featured an interactive Question-and-Answer session, giving participants the opportunity to engage directly with Gary Kirsten and further enhance their knowledge.
This program will continue periodically, with the objective of developing highly skilled and knowledgeable coaches within the Sri Lankan school cricket system.

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s IPL 2026 was going nowhere four games into the season. They had won just one game, their bowling looked clueless, their batting over-dependent on the top order and their regular captain was still recovering from an injury. Then they met Rajasthan Royals and a season turnaround ensued. They defeated RR by 57 runs and began their journey of five straight wins which lifted them from the lower half of the points table to playoff contention.

RR’s season began with four straight wins, with everything falling into place. Then came a dip, which began with that defeat against SRH and ultimately reached a stage where RR had to overcome two near must-win games to reach the playoffs. One might argue that having played two high-pressure games, RR are better placed coming into the eliminator as opposed to SRH, who haven’t really faced any knockout anxiety. But SRH have been the more consistent of the two teams and will bank on in-form players to get the job done in New Chandigarh.