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England v Ireland: Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup 2026 – live | Women’s T20 World Cup 2026
Key events
11th over: Ireland 59-5 (Paul 1, Tector 0 ) Dean teases Tector, who can’t get her away. A single and a wide is the best Ireland can take. Cat and mouse now, though the kids in the crowd waving flags don’t seem to mind.
10th over: Ireland 57-5( Paul 0, Tector 0 ) Yet again the bowling change works, this time Gibson gets rid of the insatiable Prendergast, who was looking hungry for runs.
WICKET! Prendergast b Gibson 26 (Ireland 57-5)
Leans back to cut with heavy boots and can only chop the ball into her stumps, in a celebration of flashing bails
9th over: Ireland 53-4 ( Prendergast 22, Paul 0) Oooo nearly a two-wicket over – as Paul chips in the air first ball and the ball just falls short of a running, diving NSB at short extra cover
WICKET! Stokell st Jones b Ecclestone 9 (Ireland 53-4)
Stokell advances, but it is a quicker ball from Ecclestone and a legside Jones picks off the bails.
8th over: Ireland 50-3 ( Prendergast 20, Stokell 8) Time for some Freya Kemp. Lovely rhythmic run-up. Stokell goes for a big swing but misses and Amy Jones, right up to the stumps collects. But she does make contact next ball, shovelling through the covers and Linsey Smith does a drowning frog impression and lets the ball run past her to the rope.
7th over: Ireland 43-3 ( Prendergast 19, Stokell 2) Prendergast has her eye in and isn’t going to hang around. She bends her knees and zips four immediately through backward square. She picks up a single and then Stokell can’t get away the last three balls.
6th over: Ireland 38-3 ( Prendergast 14, Stokell 2) Ecclestone’s first ball is cut for four, just beating a chasing Bell. The third ball is lofted straight, with perfect head movement for four more. Prendergast showing just why she’s such a danger. And that’s the end of the power play.
5th over: Ireland 25-3( Prendergast 3, Stokell 0) A wicket maiden to start for Charlie Dean.
WICKET! Dalzell c Kemp b Dean 14 ( Ireland 25-3)
Ireland! Calm down. Dalzell goes to drive, gets an edge and Kemp takes the catch at extra cover.
4th over: Ireland 25-2 ( Dalzell 14, Prendergast 3) Dalzell goes on the attack, dances to the ball and envelopes four through long off. Smith looks unbothered. A handful of singles.
3rd over: Ireland 17-2 ( Dalzell 8, Prendergast 1) Lewis can’t believe what she’s done, throws her head back in frustration. Dalzell had previously sailed four through midwicket.
WICKET! Lewis c Knight b Bell 0 (Ireland 16-2)
The sweep breaks Irish hearts again! Lewis shimmies past off stump and plumps for a flick-sweep, it sounds sweet but she picks out Knight at short fine leg who leaps into the air and holds on.
WICKET! Hunter b Smith 6 (Ireland 8-1)
Hunter wants to get bat on ball, drops to sweep, misses and the ball skids into her off stump. Smith clutches her fists to her body in celebration.
2nd over: Ireland 8-1 ( Dalzell 1, Lewis 0) Linsey Smith at the other end, collar up, hair in her familiar bun. Dives to collect off her own bowling. Dalzell is off the mark, looping the ball high, but just safe, then Hunter makes the bad decision to sweep.
Play! This will be a 20 over match just with a shorter interval
1st over: Ireland 6-0 ( Hunter 5, Dalzell 0) Lauren Bell stands with hands on her hips at the top of her mark waiting for the signal to run in. One slip waits – and 20 year old Hunter brushes the first ball down to the rope. A wide follows, a single and four dots.
Some belting singing from the Irish and English teams, and the
Hello Gaz Boardman. “Apologies if this has been asked before. I was watching the highlights from England’s first game during the rain break. I was wondering why Kemp’s 3 wickets in 1 over isn’t classed as a hat trick? The current 3 wickets in 3 balls could be regarded as a perfect hat trick…? Also I know sports fans love fans from other sports butting in and making suggestions to change things…”
Gaz, what are you saying?! I can hear the sound of teeth gnashing all round the country.
The anthems are on the way, and it looks like a good crowd sitting in the Southampton amphitheatre. I know a lot of people don’t love this ground, but I’m a fan. Lewis and Sciver-Brunt lead out the mascots, and the teams.
Ireland XI: Amy Hunter (wk), Alana Dalzell, Gaby Lewis (c), Orla Prendergast, Rebecca Stokell, Leah Paul, Alice Tector, Arlene Kelly, Louise Little, Cara Murray, Aimee Maguire.
Tash Farrant says Amy Hunt and Orla Predergast are England’s most wanted.
England XI: Wyatt-Hodge, Jones (wk), Sciver-Brunt (c), Capsey, Knight, Kemp, Gibson, Dean, Ecclestone, Smith, Bell.
England are unchanged.
England win the toss and will bowl
Nat Sciver Brunt:“We’ve seen some really good chases at this ground and are looking forwad to seeing how it goes. We showed great composure in the first match.” They are unchanged from the opening game against Sri Lanka.
The sports minister Steph Peacock has been at Southampton today as part of a taskforce looking to grow women’s sport.
7.15 toss – reduced overs 7.35 start
Lauren Bell loves bowling here, Danni Wyatt Hodge loves batting here. Hopefully they get their chance today.
Pitch inspection at 7pm
The covers are off. Nasser Hussain and Tash Farrant say that fielding will be crucial in these slippery conditions.
It’s stopped raining at Southampton and the players are doing vigorous warm-ups. Still a bit away from the toss though I think.
”We’re a team of staff from England Netball volunteering at the game volunteering as flag bearers,” writes Jodie Anthony. “We wanted to use our volunteering day to advocate for our fellow women’s sport and be part of the excitement of the T20 World Cup. It was much sunnier when we walked the flags out for the first game.”
That is so lovely to see! I can’t upload the photo you sent at the moment but I will continue prodding at the buttons.
Stories of women’s cricket in Scotland wanted!
With the support of Cricket Scotland, Fiona Reid and Bunny Warren are trying to find hidden stories of women’s cricket in Scotland from the last 150 years. If you have any tucked up your sleeve, please do contact them at Fiona.Reid@bayfirth.co.uk . Find out more here
Update – still raining.
Rain
The weather is not currently playing ball. “Full covers on,” says Raf. “The crowd has retreated under shelter.Should pass fairly quickly but we may get a delayed start.”
Raf is in position at Southampton – though she has provided no reports of any fancy cheescake yet. “Hello! I’m currently watching the end of a fascinating NZ v Sri Lanka contest. The ground is about half full at the moment – they’re expecting almost 10,000 people in for the England game.”
And in fact Sri Lanka have just won a thriller by five wickets, with two balls to spare.
Preamble
Good evening! Let’s get stuck in – England’s second match of the tournament after their dicing of Sri Lanka, and Ireland’s second after losing rather disappointingly to Scotland by 40 runs. They’ll be keen to give England a run from their money today, with much depending on Orla Prendergast, the talented all rounder who plays as the overseas for the Blaze , especially as former captain Laura Delany is missing the whole tournament through injury.
The toss is at 6pm – do send me a message if you’re at Southampton, or if you’ve got any thoughts on what’s going on – I’d love to hear from you.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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