New Zealand announce 15-member squad for Women’s T20 World Cup 2026

New Zealand has picked Nensi Parel and Izzy Sharp in their 15-member squad for the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 in England, which gets underway from June 12 at Edgbaston. Sophie Devine and Lea Tahuhu have confirmed that they will also join Suzie Bates in retirement after the competition.

The 39-year-old Bates has already declared her ‘one final mission’ earlier this month. At the same time, Devine and Tahuhu, the 36-year-old and 35-year-old respectively, also made it public when the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) named their squad in defense of their World Cup title.

Mixture of young and experienced players in New Zealand’s T20 WC squad

The squad will be led by Amelia Kerr, who has ten players being part of the title-winning side two years ago when they beat South Africa in the final in Dubai. It will be a first T20 WC event for the left-arm seamer, Bree Lilling, the wicket-keeper batter Polly Inglis, and the spinner Flora Devonshire, who featured in the ODI WC last year.  

“Any time you're chosen to represent your country on the world stage, it's an honour, but World Cups hold an elevated level of importance, and I'm certain everyone can't wait to get on the plane. It's going to be an extra special time for Izzy and Nensi with it being their first World Cup.” New Zealand’s head coach, Ben Sawyer, expressed in a statement.

Squad: Amelia Kerr (captain), Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine, Flora Devonshire, Izzy Gaze (wk), Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Bree Illing, Polly Inglis (wk), Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Nensi Patel, Georgia Plimmer, Izzy Sharp (wk), Lea Tahuhu, 

“They've comfortably taken to international cricket this summer and should both have confidence heading into this next challenge. To have our three most senior players all finishing their careers at the same tournament is a rare and special occasion.” He addressed.

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Nensi, the off-spin all-rounder, made her debut in T20Is in February this year. She has six wickets from four games at an economy rate of 3.56. The dry pitches this summer could help him in this process. 

New Zealand make big selection calls for T20 WC 2026

It will be a massive challenge for the White Ferns to change their combination after the end of the event. They will also take part in a three-match T20I series against England in late May before the campaign.

“I believe we've landed on a well-balanced squad that features a mix of experience and exciting young talent. We've worked really hard over the past 12 months to develop our batting depth in particular, which we've seen bear fruit in our recent home series against South Africa and Zimbabwe.”

The defending champions are in Group 2 and will play two warm-up games on June 06 and 08 against Bangladesh and South Africa, respectively, before their very first clash against the West Indies at South Bowl on June 14.