India got into their stride in England, ahead of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026, with a 26-run win over the West Indies in their opening warm-up match.
Having tasted success at the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025, the Indian team is hungry for more. And they came up with a standout all-round performance against the Caribbean side in Cardiff on Monday to lay down the marker.
After a half-century from Bharti Fulmalli lifted the team to 179/8, Radha Yadav and Shreyanka Patil stole the show with the ball to restrict West Indies to 153/8.
Put into bat, Indian openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma (29) gave the team a brisk start, setting the tone for the innings.
In the first few overs, the West Indies bowlers struggled to find the right line and length. They strayed onto the leg side too often and Mandhana, especially, was quick to punish them. The southpaw, captaining the side on Monday, struck eight fours for a quick 39 off 23 balls.
Aaliyah Alleyne snapped the 59-run opening stand as she had Mandhana mistime a shot to mid-on. India posted 70-1 in powerplay and continued in that vein despite losing three quick wickets.
Yastika Bhatia and Bharti Fulmalli helped India recover from the wobble with a 60-run partnership for the fourth wicket. The former had compiled a confident 36 off 26 when the team management retired her out, in an effort to give more match time to players down the order.
It seemed to disrupt India's rhythm, as the team lost Richa Ghosh and Radha Yadav in the very next over. Fulmalli held the innings together with a well-paced half-century. She scored an unbeaten 56 off 40 balls, with the help of six fours and the lone six of the innings, to make sure India finished with a strong total.
Leg-break bowler Afy Fletcher was the pick of the bowlers for West Indies as she claimed 4/23 in her four overs.
While West Indies experimented with nine bowlers, India stuck mainly to their lead bowlers to start the warm-ups on a winning note. The Caribbean side struggled against the slower bowlers, with Patil (4/36) and Yadav (3/25) claiming all the wickets - Shemaine Campbelle was retired out.
Chasing a challenging total, Deandra Dottin and Campbelle put on an opening stand of 63/1. But they mustered only 37 in powerplay and were left to play catch-up.
Like what happened in the Indian innings, Campbelle's exit resulted in a collapse as West Indies slipped to 103/6. Dottin missed out narrowly on a half-century as she was dismissed for 49 off 41 balls. Despite a couple of big hits from Aaliyah Alleyne and Shawnisha Hector later in the innings, West Indies fell well short of the Indian total.
Australia cruised to a solid five-wicket victory over England in the warm-up match at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff after a clinical all-round performance.
After opting to field first, Australia got to work early, rocking the English top order with three quick wickets. The hosts were reeling at 19/3 in the fifth over when Alice Capsey and Heather Knight began rebuilding the English innings.
The duo dished out ten boundaries among themselves during a 54-run stand that got 2009 winners back on track in the match. Alana King though handed Australia the breakthrough sending Knight back to the hut for a 22-ball 25.
Megan Schutt then grabbed her second wicket of the afternoon after dismissing Capsey just five short of her half-century as Australia wrestled back the initiative.
However, the six-time champions were pushed back again thanks to a blistering knock of 41 off just 27 deliveries from Freya Kemp that was well supported by Danielle Gibson’s 16-ball 27 as England posted 157/6 in their 20 overs.
In reply, Australia took the attack to England in the powerplay as openers Beth Mooney and Georgia Voll dominated the English bowling that lacked control.
Voll fell on the final ball of the powerplay but Mooney continued her charge before Capsey who was the star with the bat for the hosts got rid of the Australian opener in the 8th over to keep England in the contest.
Elyss Perry continued to pile pressure on England with an aggressive knock that allowed Australia to remain firmly in control of the chase. Displaying her full range of strokes, she brought up her fifty in commanding style with a boundary down the ground.
Perry perished on 64 but not before putting Australia on the brink of victory that they achieved with ten balls to spare. Australia laid down an early marker with a big win over their rivals to get in the groove for the T20 World Cup.