Women's T20 World Cup: All-round England continue unbeaten run with 38-run win over Scotland

England continued their marvellous run in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, with a 38-run victory against Scotland in Match 16 on Saturday, June 20, at Headingley, Leeds. After being asked to bat first, England posted a massive score of 200/5 in their allotted 20 overs, riding on a brilliant half-century from Sophia Dunkley, while Alice Capsey (40 off 25), Freya Kemp (39* off 16) and Danielle Gibson (30* off 11) also made valuable contributions.

For Scotland, Kirstie Gordon (2/30) scalped two wickets, while Kathryn Bryce (1/42), Priyanaz Chatterji (1/35, 3 overs), and Hannah Rainey (1/30) also chipped in with one wicket each. In reply, Scotland put up a spirited batting performance, but it wasn’t enough to chase down the mammoth target and were restricted to 162/7 in their allotted 20 overs, with Sarah Bryce (34 off 24) top-scoring.

Courtesy of some brilliant batting performances, the match recorded the highest aggregate in a T20 World Cup fixture (362). Meanwhile, England registered their third successive victory of the tournament, continuing their reign at the top of the Group B points table. On the other hand, Scotland slipped to fourth spot.

Top run-scorer of the Match

Top wicket-taker of the Match

Player of the Match

Sophia Dunkley was adjudged Player of the Match for her brilliant half-century. She played a brilliant innings of 57 (37), with the help of eight fours and a six. She walked to the crease after Amy Jones was dismissed on the very first ball of the innings and stitched a crucial 51-run stand off 36 balls with Danni Wyatt-Hodge. She further added 41 runs for the third wicket off 25 balls with Alice Capsey to set a perfect platform for England.

Turning Point

Scotland got off to a blazing start to their chase as Katherine Fraser raced to 23 off just 12 balls, smashing two fours and as many sixes. The Scottish opener had kept the run rate in check and was determined to make full use of the powerplay. However, England captain Charlotte Dean bowled her in the fourth over to give her team the much-needed breakthrough. Following her departure, none of the batters could keep up with the required run rate as England registered a comfortable win.

What did the captains say:

Winning Captain, Charlotte Dean (England women):  

I guess we could have been more clinical, I think, with the ball. But to get up to a score like that, put us in a fantastic position. I thought Scotland came out swinging. You know, they played really well on a really good pitch. But to get the win, yeah, that's what we wanted to achieve today. I enjoyed it today (When asked about captaincy), actually. I think having that bigger total to try and defend, the girls were really good. I wanted to bowl a bit better today, if I'm honest. But yeah, I guess captaining and focusing on my own bowling when I get to do that is a skill and being able to switch on and off when I need to. But yeah, it went well today. I think it's massive for our batters to get up to those totals. And we know that we can chase as well, you know, scores are getting bigger and bigger. So learning how to chase higher scores and also set them, yeah, it was brilliant. It was a brilliant pitch here at Headingley. So to get up to that total and for the girls to do a lot of work in the back end as well was really pleasing. The tournament cricket is about winning the games in front of you, and that's what we need to do. It's brilliant to get three wins, but yeah, we take every game as it comes, and it's really important for us to go well at Lord's against the West Indies.

Losing Captain, Kathryn Bryce (Scotland women):

Pretty high, I think (About the emotions in the camp). I think we did a lot of really good things in that game and just really excited to see the way that we tried to chase that total. I think everyone that came in just came in with that intent to go out there and try and chase it down. And yeah, not that close in the end. Yeah, I think our ground fielding especially was absolutely exceptional in that first game. And that was probably the difference coming into today. We probably put a lot through through our legs that were pretty costly. So I think that's definitely something to reflect on and kind of learn from as well. Probably with the sun coming down, I think it had a little bit of an effect on vision. So it's just a learning experience as well. I think the way that Darcy and Fraser have opened at the top have really set the tone for the innings. And I think that's been fantastic to see. And I think that sets us up really well to be able to put big totals on the board. I think we've had a couple of really cool games the other day against the West Indies and played a lot of really good cricket again today against a really good side. So I think if we go out there with the same sort of intent and just do a few things a little bit better, then we'll be hopefully in a position to get one on the board.