The prelude to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 began on Saturday, with the first set of warm-up matches getting underway in Derby and Loughborough.
English weather made its presence felt on the very first day as both the South Africa-Ireland and the Netherlands-Scotland matches were delayed due to rain.
However, once the clouds cleared, both teams got some crucial preparation under their belt in the English conditions.
The 12 participating teams will play two warm-up games each between June 6-10. Later in the day, New Zealand will take on Bangladesh while an all-Asian contest sees Pakistan face Sri Lanka.
South Africa v Ireland
It was a composed performance by the Proteas as they defeated Ireland by 15 runs in their opening Women’s T20 World Cup warm-up match in Loughborough on Saturday.
With rain delaying the start of the match and reducing the contest to 18 overs, Ireland won the toss and elected to field first and exploit the early freshness in the wicket. However, an experienced South African batting line-up was up to the task.
Captain Laura Woolvardt gave the team a lift with a brisk 65 off 37 balls, with the help of seven fours and three sixes. While South Africa looked set to pile on a big total at one point, the innings lost momentum after the drinks break.
On resumption, they lost two quick wickets, of set batters Annerie Dercksen (26) and Woolvardt, within the space of three balls, grinding the momentum to a halt, restricting South Africa to 135/8.
For Ireland, medium-pacer Arlene Kelly was the most successful with 3/29 in three overs. Meanwhile, Cara Murray, who dismissed Dercksen and Woolvardt in the 14th over, and Ava Canning claimed two scalps each.
South Africa started the defence well, restricting Ireland to 37/3 in the powerplay. Though Leah Paul (29) and Rebecca Stokell (19) tried to take the attack to their opponents in a last-ditch effort, it proved too little too late as the European team finished at 120 in 17.4 overs.
Seasoned all-rounder Marizanne Kapp was the pick of the South Africa bowlers, claiming four wickets for just 24 runs in her quota of four overs.
Netherlands v Scotland
Scotland kicked off their T20 World Cup preparations with a strong 58-run win over the Netherlands in the warm-up game in Derby on Saturday.
After being put into bat by the Dutch, Scotland posted 163/5 on a lively wicket. While Darcey Carter (33 off 22 balls) at the top and an unbeaten 32 off 20 from Priyanaz Chatterji bookended their effort, with almost every batter contributing to their cause.
Ahead of what will be their maiden Women’s T20 World Cup, the Dutch team experimented with nine bowlers against Scotland. Leg-break bowler Silver Siegers stood out with figures of 2/15 in three overs.