Yorkshire's Sterre Kalis hoping Headingley homecoming can help Netherlands achieve World Cup lift-off
IT’S already been a whirlwind 2026 campaign for Yorkshire’s Sterre Kalis – but she is looking forward to coming ‘home’ to help kickstart the Netherlands’ T20 World Cup campaign.
The Dutch lost out when taking on Bangladesh in their opening game of the competition, losing out by six wickets at Edgbaston on Sunday.
On that occasion Kalis - who has shown a rich vein of form with the bat for Yorkshire across all formats so far this year - had a rare blip, when dismissed for just four as the Netherlands lurched to 139-8 from their 20 overs.
Their opponents reached their target with five balls to spare and will also be in action at Headingley today, taking on Australia in the first of two games as the Leeds venue becomes part of the competition.
The Netherlands will then take to the field looking to cause an upset against India, who beat Pakistan in their opening game by 64 runs on Saturday.
In all, there are five games taking place at Headingley throughout the competition, Scotland taking on West Indies on Thursday before hosts’ England make their one and only appearance in West Yorkshire when they face the Scots two days later.
Australia and Pakistan then bring the curtain down on Headingley’s involvement when they face off against each other next Tuesday.
But today, Kalis – one of only a handful of professional players in the Netherlands team – will take centre stage for her country on a ground she is more familiar with than anywhere else in recent years.
“Representing your country at a World Cup in a country where I now live and play most of my cricket, it’s really cool,” said Kalis, who averages 35.50 in international T20s for her country, having scored 1,953 runs in 65 games.
“It’s going to be really exciting, but it’s also a shame that I’m going to have to miss some time with Yorkshire. I think we can really compete in this World Cup.”
The third and final World Cup game today takes place at Edgbaston when Pakistan will look to bounce back from their defeat to India when they take on South Africa.
New Zealand’s defence of their T20 World Cup crown was left hanging by a thread last night following a five-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka at the Utilita Bowl.
After the White Ferns lost a last-over thriller against the West Indies in their tournament opener, Kaushini Nuthyangana swept for four to get Sri Lanka past their 151-run target with two balls to spare.
Despite New Zealand captain Melie Kerr’s sensational direct hit to run out Hasini Perera as Sri Lanka slipped to 55 for four, Nilakshika Silva benefited from being put down on one to amass 54 not out.
Having fielded poorly against the Windies, the 2024 champions dropped several more chances on Tuesday, most notably when Nilakshika top-edged a sweep early on, with Bree Illing spilling a simple chance.
Nilakshika kept Sri Lanka up with the required rate before Nuthyangana applied the coup de grace to leave New Zealand staring down the barrel of a group-stage exit.