England vs Sri Lanka Women Women's T20 World Cup Predictions - England set to start CWC with big win

England Women have won three and lost two of their last five T20Is against Sri Lanka Women. The Sri Lankans won the last two matches back in 2023 to claim a shock 2-1 series win on English soil.

England have won their last two T20I series 2-1, first against New Zealand in May followed by beating India after coming from 1-0 down in the series. 

Alice Capsey has scores of 28, 82 and 45 in her last four matches, while Heather Knight has scored 21, 18, 70* and 25 in her last four knocks. Amy Jones has scored 67, 28 and 64 in her last five matches, but the rest of their top order has struggled to put significant scores on the board. 

Lauren Bell took 2/36 against India in the series decider at Taunton, while Linsey Smith took 3/42 and Charlie Dean 2/16 at Cardiff against India.

Sri Lanka beat the West Indies 2-0 in March followed by a 3-0 win over Bangladesh at the end of April. 

Chamari Athapaththu has been starring with the bat for Sri Lanka, racking up scores of 32, 42, 41 and 94 in her last four knocks. Harshitha Samarawickrama has three scores of 36-plus in her last four matches, while Hansima Karunaratne top-scored with 54 off 42 balls in the warm-up match against the Netherlands.

Sugandika Kumari took 2/22, 1/33 and 1/26 in her last three matches, Nimasha Meepage has picked up six wickets in her last five matches, while Athapaththu has figures of 2/19 and 2/15 in her last four matches.

England’s batting star Alice Capsey will become the first England player to play in three T20I World Cups before the age of 22 when she takes the field against Sri Lanka in the opening match of the World Cup.

"The opportunities I've been able to have over the last three, four years have just been incredible. Even reflecting back on it to be a part of those kind of events, it's so special. Being part of any World Cup is pretty cool, but to have this kind of host advantage, but also having friends and family [watching], hopefully getting some amazing crowds in, we're all pretty aware that it's probably a once-in-a-career opportunity, and we're so excited for that," said Capsey in an interview with Cricinfo.

"I've really enjoyed the opportunity [to open], and I think it's definitely something that gives me the flexibility within the powerplay to play my natural game, and I guess get a start, and then try and expand from that once we get out of the powerplay. I feel like, especially over the last couple of years, I've kind of figured out a bit of a template for how I want to go about things, so I feel a lot more relaxed and a lot more at peace with how it goes. 

"I've batted from one to seven or eight now, so I've been able to experience lots of different roles, lots of different situations, and hopefully it puts me in pretty good stead. I think there's competition for places in our whole squad now, which is really exciting. I think what [Dunkley] and Dan [Wyatt-Hodge] have done at the top of the order has been incredible over the last couple of years, and the way that Dunks can take a game away from an opposition within the first four overs is just incredible to watch."

England Women squad: Nat Sciver-Brunt (c), Lauren Bell, Alice Capsey, Tilly Corteen-Coleman, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Dani Gibson, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Heather Knight, Linsey Smith, Issy Wong, Danni Wyatt-Hodge.

Sri Lanka Women squad: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Hasini Perera, Vishmi Gunarathne, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Imesha Dulani, Nilakshika Silva, Kaveesha Dilhari, Hansima Karunarathne, Kaushini Nuthyangana, Sugandika Dassanayaka, Nimasha Madushani, Shashini Gimhani, Kawya Kavindi, Malki Madara, Mithali Ayodhya.