The Hundred Women 2026 is going to set the new bar of popularity by adding more flavours from last year. It begins on Tuesday, July 21, 2026 at The Kia Oval in London with the first match between MI London and Sunrisers Leeds at 2:45 PM. The tournament runs until August 16, when the final takes place at Lord’s. This is the biggest and most competitive edition of The Hundred Women’s competition in the event’s history.
A Season Transformed by Private Investment
Everything about the 2026 Hundred feels different from what came before. Three teams have new identities this season. The Oval Invincibles are now MI London. Northern Superchargers are now Sunrisers Leeds.
Manchester Originals are now Manchester Super Giants. These rebrands reflect major private investment from IPL ownership groups who bought into the tournament during the off-season.
The salary cap for women has been doubled to £880,000 per franchise. The old draft system has been scrapped and replaced by a live player auction, exactly like the IPL model. Top players now earn up to £130,000 per season, a transformational change for women’s cricket in England that makes this competition a genuinely lucrative destination for the world’s best players.
MI London Women: Power, Depth and Global Stars
MI London enter this tournament with one of the most star-studded squads the women’s competition has ever seen. Alice Capsey anchors the batting, coming off a brilliant Women’s T20 World Cup campaign for England. Ellyse Perry brings veteran quality that no other franchise can match. Danni Wyatt-Hodge, who won the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for June 2026, adds explosive batting at the top of the order.
Lauren Filer leads the pace attack and is one of the most exciting fast bowlers in women’s cricket right now. Linsey Smith offers left-arm spin. Alana King provides wrist spin variety. This MI London group looks balanced across every department and has genuine title-winning potential if their international stars click in the 100-ball format.
Sunrisers Leeds Women: Defending Champions Who Know How to Win
Sunrisers Leeds arrive as the defending champions, having won the title in 2025 when the franchise was still known as Northern Superchargers. They beat Southern Brave in the 2025 final at Lord’s and carry the confidence of champions into this opening match.
Their squad is equally impressive. Danielle Gibson captains the side and is one of England’s most consistent performers in the format. Deepti Sharma brings the wicket-taking spin quality that franchise sides covet.
Phoebe Litchfield offers explosive batting from anywhere in the order. Jess Jonassen adds international experience from Australia. Hayley Matthews, fresh from a brilliant ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 for West Indies, gives them a genuine match-winner at the top of the order.
Tonight’s Match: MI London vs Sunrisers Leeds at The Kia Oval
The opening match of the 2026 women’s season at The Kia Oval is genuinely exciting on paper. Both squads have star power throughout the lineup. MI London have home advantage at their own ground. Sunrisers Leeds have the confidence of defending champions who know how to win knockout cricket.
The Kia Oval offers a fast, true surface with short boundaries on the straight. It suits attacking batting and rewards bowlers who use the pitch rather than the air. Both sides have the batters and bowlers to take advantage of those conditions. A first-ball six feels inevitable. A close finish feels even more so.
Weather on July 21 is forecast to be partly sunny with a high of 24 degrees Celsius and only a 10 percent chance of rain. A full 100-ball match is expected at The Oval this afternoon.
What Makes This Season Special
The storylines surrounding this season go beyond just the cricket. Fatima Sana of Pakistan has signed for Birmingham Phoenix, becoming the first Pakistan player ever to feature in the women’s Hundred. That story, which broke just weeks ago, captured the attention of cricket fans across South Asia and reflected the growing global reach of this competition.
Four Indian players are also set to feature across different franchises this season. Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, and Jemimah Rodrigues all have Hundred contracts. Their participation directly after winning the Test game in historic The Lord’s.
Eight Teams, 34 Matches, One Trophy
The competition features eight teams across 34 matches. Thirty-two group stage games are followed by one Eliminator on August 14 and the Grand Final at Lord’s on August 16. Seven iconic venues are used across the tournament, from Edgbaston to Headingley, Trent Bridge, Cardiff, Southampton, Lord’s, and The Kia Oval.
Every team plays every other side at least once during the group stage. The top two sides after the group stage progress directly to the final. The third and fourth-placed teams meet in the Eliminator for the right to join them at Lord’s. The format rewards consistency across the whole competition rather than just peaking for the knockout rounds.
The transformation this kind of franchise structure has brought to women’s cricket globally is part of a broader shift in how the sport is consumed and invested in, covered in our piece on the impact of franchise leagues on cricket.
Conclusion
The Hundred Women 2026 begins tonight at The Kia Oval and it feels like the most significant opening night in the competition’s short history. New identities, doubled prize money, a live auction, four Indian stars, and the first Pakistan player in the women’s competition all add up to something genuinely different from previous editions. Sunrisers Leeds will want to defend their title. MI London will want to make a statement on their own ground. The ball is bowled at 2:45 PM. Women’s cricket in England is ready for its biggest summer yet.
