Twelve batters to watch at ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026
With the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 expanding to 12 teams, several star batters are set to take centre stage. From Shafali Verma and Georgia Voll to Hayley Matthews and Laura Wolvaardt, these players could shape the tournament’s outcome.
Hyderabad: In a game of fine margins like T20 cricket, batters who can take the game away from their opponents are worth their weight in gold, ICC Media reports.
With the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 now expanded to 12 teams, there are even more opportunities for big hitters to make a major impact.
Here are 12 batters (one from each team) to keep an eye on when the tournament begins on June 12.
Australia – Georgia Voll
Georgia Voll is the next talent off the Australian production line and is set to make her T20 World Cup debut in England and Wales.
The 22-year-old already boasts centuries in both white-ball formats of the game, with her score of 101 against the West Indies earlier this year being the highest score made by an Australian batter since the last edition of the World Cup.
As well as making big scores, Voll scores quickly. She has a T20I strike rate of 156.43 and is currently at the top of the women’s T20I batting rankings.
Bangladesh – Sobhana Mostary
Sobhana Mostary has been Bangladesh’s most consistent performer with the bat in recent years.
She was their highest run-scorer at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, making 134 runs at an average of 33.50.
Since that tournament, she has scored 413 runs across 15 innings, including hitting 15 sixes, eight more than any other Bangladesh player.
Sobhana was named Player of the Tournament at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier at the start of 2026, scoring 262 runs at an average of 52.40.
England – Heather Knight
Heather Knight has entered a new stage in her career, with the T20 World Cup in 2024 being the last tournament she captained England in.
Injuries have hampered her since stepping down as captain, but she showed her class with a century against India at last year’s ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.
The 35-year-old’s experience will be invaluable as one of only three players in the hosts’ 2026 squad who were part of England’s last World Cup-winning team in 2017.
India – Shafali Verma
A player reborn at just 22, Shafali Verma has reached the heights many believed she was destined for.
After making her debut at 15, Verma became a regular member of India’s team before spending time away from the national set-up.
Brought back for the knockout stages of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup on home soil, the opener was named Player of the Match in the final as her 87 helped India lift the trophy for the first time.
Ireland – Gaby Lewis
No player at this year’s World Cup has scored more runs since the previous edition ended than Ireland’s Gaby Lewis.
Across 21 innings, Lewis has scored 825 runs at an average of 43.42. She is comfortably her nation’s leading run-scorer in the format, having become the first Irish woman to pass both 2,000 and 3,000 T20I runs, and she top-scored at the 2026 Qualifier with 276 runs in seven innings.
The Netherlands – Sterre Kalis
A player deserving of a place on the big stage, Sterre Kalis top-scored for the Netherlands in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 Qualifier to earn her country a debut appearance in the tournament proper.
She is also her country’s leading run-scorer in the format, with 1,893 T20I runs, while she is well accustomed to playing in England, having represented various county and regional teams since 2016. Currently with Yorkshire, Kalis will feel at home when her side takes on India at Headingley on June 17.
New Zealand – Suzie Bates
Make the most of watching Suzie Bates in the coming weeks as it will be the last chance to do so on the international stage.
Bates and her long-time teammate Sophie Devine will both retire after the 2026 World Cup, with Bates set to finish as the leading run-scorer in women’s T20I cricket, having scored 4,717 runs across a 19-year career.
A World Cup winner in 2024, Bates will hope to deliver a memorable performance in her swansong.
Pakistan – Ayesha Zafar
Ayesha Zafar is making up for lost time in the international set-up.
The 31-year-old made her T20I debut back in 2015 before spending three years out of the side.
Her return in 2024 showed signs of promise and she has gone from strength to strength, scoring her first international century with an unbeaten 102 against Zimbabwe earlier this year, the joint-highest score ever made by a Pakistan women’s player.
Scotland – Darcey Carter
Darcey Carter’s crucial 52 against the USA sealed Scotland’s place at their second consecutive ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
Her side needed a win to confirm qualification, and she delivered her best performance of the Qualifier to set up the victory.
At just 20 years of age and within three years of her international debut, Carter is already third on Scotland’s all-time list of women’s T20I run-scorers.
South Africa – Laura Wolvaardt
Laura Wolvaardt enters this competition in excellent form after winning April’s ICC Women’s Player of the Month award, her third in seven months.
She scored 330 runs in five innings in a recent T20I series against India, recording one century and three fifties while striking at 168.35.
A player for the big occasion, Wolvaardt reached three figures in both the semi-final and final at last year’s ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup and will be crucial in setting the tone for the Proteas.
Sri Lanka – Hasini Perera
After featuring only twice at the last ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, Hasini Perera has become a key part of Sri Lanka’s batting line-up.
Having been moved to the top of the order in December last year, Perera found consistency and recorded a career-best 65 against India. She has become a valuable partner for Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu.
The West Indies – Hayley Matthews
Hayley Matthews is arguably the player who can make the biggest difference for her team.
The West Indies skipper can do it all and has scored 2,710 runs during her T20I career. She was part of the side that won the tournament in 2016, top-scoring with 66 in the final and earning the Player of the Match award.
Since the last World Cup, she has scored her third T20I century, blasting an unbeaten 100 off 67 balls against England in May 2025.
