The 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, the largest in the tournament’s history, gets underway across England and Wales on June 12. Twelve teams will contest 33 matches at seven iconic grounds — Lord’s, The Oval, Edgbaston, Headingley, Old Trafford, the Hampshire Bowl and Bristol — before the final at Lord’s on July 5.
Australia start as favourites
As ever in women’s cricket, the road to the trophy runs through Australia. Under captain Sophie Molineux, the defending powerhouse fields one of the most balanced squads in the competition: Megan Schutt leads the pace attack, and a world-class spin trio of Molineux, Alana King and Georgia Wareham gives them control through the middle overs. With Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield in the batting ranks, Australia look, once again, like the team to beat.
India the likeliest challengers
India are widely seen as Australia’s closest rivals. Harmanpreet Kaur captains a deep, well-rounded side, with Smriti Mandhana as her deputy and the explosive Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh providing firepower. Their bowling is just as serious — Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav and Sree Charani anchor the spin, backed by the pace of Renuka Singh, Kranti Gaud and Arundhati Reddy.
The group of death
Group A is loaded: Australia, India, South Africa, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Netherlands. The standout fixture is a mouthwatering Australia-India clash at Lord’s on June 28 to close out the group stage — potentially a dress rehearsal for the final, and exactly the kind of marquee tie a home World Cup was built to deliver.
Warm-ups underway
The action has effectively already started, with warm-up fixtures — including West Indies against India and England against Australia — giving sides a final tune-up before the real thing. England, buoyed by recent form, will fancy their chances as hosts.
The bottom line
Australia carry the favourite’s tag and the trophy-laden pedigree to match, but India’s depth and England’s home advantage make this feel more open than recent editions. With 12 teams and a Lord’s final, the biggest Women’s T20 World Cup yet has the cast for a genuine classic.
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