The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is set to be played on the soil of England. The 10th edition of the prestigious tournament will be played among 12 teams, 33 matches, and 24 days of blockbuster encounters. The event will be held from 12th June to 5th July 2026. The shortest format of international cricket is of 20 overs, and a lot of things, like the base of an innings, are dependent upon the opening batters.
The tempo of the innings is set by their performance. In the history of the T20 World Cup, batters like Alyssa Healy, Smriti Mandhana of India, and Shafali Verma are the top three batters who hold great potential to score runs and provide the required start for their team.
1. Alyssa Healy
Alyssa Healy is an experienced wicketkeeper batter of the AUS-W team. Alyssa Healy plays with many league teams like UP Warriorz Women, Northern Superchargers, and Sydney Sixers are some of the teams for which she plays. She is known for providing a blistering start to the team with her destructive batting. In WT20Is, she holds a fabulous record of scoring 3054 runs with a 129.79 strike rate and at an average of 25.45.
With her 148 not out innings against SL-W on October 2nd, 2019, in the 3rd T20I match, held at North Sydney, batting first, AUS-W posted 226/2. Alyssa Healy dominated completely in the match by scoring 148 runs in just 61 balls, including 19 fours and 7 sixes with a strike rate of 242.62. She is considered one of the most attacking batters in the WT20Is, and her batting style will be a great asset for AUS-W in the Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup 2026.
2. Smriti Mandhana
Indian Women’s cricket team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana is an aggressive opening batter who has many records to her name. One of the most known records to her name is that she is the first Indian woman to score hundreds across all the formats of cricket, the 149 runs innings in Women’s Test matches, 136 runs in WODIs, and 112 in WT20Is. She is known for her fast and fierce knocks in T20Is, and as the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup is going to start, for IND-W, she stands in the marquee list of players, as her record in WT20Is is very significant, with 4333 runs in 160 innings at an average of 29.88 and a strike rate of 124.54.
Her 112 runs innings came against ENG-W at Nottingham on June 28, 2025, in the 1st T20I match. IND-W, batting first, scored 210/5, where Smriti scored 112 runs in 62 balls, including 15 fours and 3 sixes. She was also the Player of the Match as IND-W won by 97 runs in that match.
3. Shafali Verma
Shafali Verma is an explosive IND-W opening batter. In T20Is, she is considered one of the most destructive batters, and in a very short span of time, Shafali has made a significant amount of name in the cricketing world. Shafali holds the record of smashing the fastest double hundred in a Women’s Test match against South Africa-W, she scored a giant 205 runs in just 197 balls, and in WT20Is, her record is fantastic, with 2722 runs at an average of 27.49 in 105 innings, and with a strike rate of 135.49.
Shafali Verma is one of the significant players in the IND-W team, and her fearless knocks as an opening batter will be of great use in the coming ICC Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup 2026.
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