Toss England chose to bowl vs Ireland

England won the toss and elected to bowl in the second match of a T20 World Cup double-header in Southampton.

The toss was delayed by 75 minutes due to rain that arrived towards the end of Sri Lanka’s chase against New Zealand in the afternoon match, but no overs have been lost. The forecast is expected to remain dry for the remainder of the evening.

Hosts England are unchanged as they look to build on an 87-run victory against Sri Lanka in the tournament opener at Edgbaston on Friday night, while Ireland, who lost to Scotland at Old Trafford on Saturday, are still searching for their maiden win at the tournament. They make one change to their XI, with Louise Little replacing Ava Canning, who captain Gaby Lewis said missed out as a “precaution”.

England and Ireland have only met on four previous occasions in women’s T20Is, with the head-to-head record 3-1 in England’s favour. Ireland won the most recent encounter in Dublin in 2024, albeit against a heavily-rotated England squad.

England won the only previous meeting at the T20 World Cup, chasing 107 for a four-wicket victory in Paarl in 2023.

Tonight’s clash will be played on the same hybrid surface as both previous matches at Hampshire Bowl, in which the chasing sides won. West Indies reached their target of 163 with a ball to spare, and Sri Lanka successfully chased 151 with two balls remaining – both against defending champions New Zealand.

England: 1 Danni Wyatt-Hodge, 2 Amy Jones (wk), 3 Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), 4 Alice Capsey, 5 Heather Knight, 6 Freya Kemp, 7 Dani Gibson, 8 Charlie Dean, 9 Sophie Ecclestone, 10 Linsey Smith, 11 Lauren Bell

Ireland: 1 Amy Hunter (wk), 2 Alana Dalzell, 3 Gaby Lewis (capt), 4 Orla Prendergast, 5 Rebecca Stokell, 6 Leah Paul, 7 Alice Tector, 8 Arlene Kelly, 9 Louise Little, 10 Cara Murray 11 Aimee Maguire