The Hundred 2026: Schedule, Teams, Fixtures & India Players Watch

The Hundred enters its sixth season in 2026 looking, finally, like a settled product. The eight franchises are entrenched. The 100-ball format that was once the league's most-mocked feature has quietly become its most-distinctive selling point. The women's competition — played as a true equal alongside the men's — has become the most-watched women's domestic league in the world. And after years of Indian players being absent because of BCCI no-objection-certificate restrictions, the question of when (and whether) Indian stars finally appear at The Hundred has become one of the recurring storylines of the league.

This hub covers everything you need ahead of The Hundred 2026: the full schedule (men's and women's), the eight franchises, the India connection, the rules of the 100-ball format for new viewers, and the broadcast plan for Indian audiences. We have flagged what is firm and what is still subject to formal confirmation by the ECB.

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Tournament at a glance

• Tournament window: July 21 to August 16, 2026
• Format: 100-ball, eight franchises, men's and women's editions played as paired double-headers
• Group stage: 32 men's matches + 32 women's matches
• Knockouts: Eliminator + Final at Lord's on August 16 (men's and women's on the same day)
• Host: England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)
• Broadcast (UK): Sky Sports + BBC (selected matches free-to-air)
• Broadcast (India): TBC — historically Sony Sports Network and / or FanCode

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The eight franchises

The Hundred has the same eight franchises as the previous five seasons, each anchored to a regional Test ground:

Franchise	Home venue	Regional anchor
Birmingham Phoenix	Edgbaston	West Midlands
London Spirit	Lord's	North London
Manchester Originals	Old Trafford	North-West
Northern Superchargers	Headingley, Leeds	Yorkshire
Oval Invincibles	Kia Oval	South London
Southern Brave	The Rose Bowl, Southampton	South Coast
Trent Rockets	Trent Bridge, Nottingham	East Midlands
Welsh Fire	Sophia Gardens, Cardiff	Wales

Each franchise fields both a men's and a women's side. Home double-headers — women's match followed by men's match, both at the same venue — are the staple format of the league.

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Provisional schedule (men's)

The men's round-robin runs across 32 matches over four weeks. The grid below is the indicative schedule from the ECB's pre-season briefing — final fixture confirmations are expected by mid-June 2026.

Date	Fixture	Venue
Jul 21 (Tue)	Oval Invincibles vs Manchester Originals	Kia Oval
Jul 22 (Wed)	Trent Rockets vs Birmingham Phoenix	Trent Bridge
Jul 24 (Fri)	London Spirit vs Welsh Fire	Lord's
Jul 25 (Sat)	Northern Superchargers vs Southern Brave	Headingley
Jul 28 (Tue)	Birmingham Phoenix vs Manchester Originals	Edgbaston
Aug 1 (Sat)	Welsh Fire vs Oval Invincibles	Sophia Gardens
Aug 5 (Wed)	Southern Brave vs London Spirit	The Rose Bowl
Aug 9 (Sun)	Trent Rockets vs Northern Superchargers	Trent Bridge
Aug 14 (Fri)	Eliminator (3rd vs 2nd)	Trent Bridge
Aug 16 (Sun)	Final	Lord's

This is a partial sample of the full 32-match schedule. The full grid will be published on the ECB site at fixture confirmation. The structure: each men's side plays eight group games (four home, four away). Top of the table goes straight to the Final. Second and third meet in the Eliminator.

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Provisional schedule (women's)

The women's competition runs in parallel — same 32-match round-robin, same paired double-headers at most fixtures. The Eliminator and Final are also at Lord's on August 16, played as a double-header alongside the men's final.

The headline fixture: Oval Invincibles women are the defending champions, having won three of the last five women's editions. Southern Brave women are the perennial bridesmaids. London Spirit women, finally, broke their semi-final curse in 2025. The 2026 race looks wide open.

For Indian fans, the women's competition is the centre of attention — see the next section.

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The India connection

Here is where the storyline gets interesting, and where we have to be careful with what is firm and what is speculation.

Men's side: the Hardik Pandya question

For most of The Hundred's history, the BCCI has not granted no-objection-certificates (NOCs) to active Indian men's international players to participate in overseas T20 leagues during their playing careers. The result: no Rohit Sharma, no Virat Kohli, no Jasprit Bumrah at The Hundred — ever.

The wider conversation about whether the BCCI will eventually relax this position has run for years, and Hardik Pandya's name has periodically surfaced in speculation about a possible Hundred signing. As of the May 2026 update of this hub, no active India men's player has been confirmed for The Hundred 2026. If that changes during the late-window draft (typically mid-June), we will update this section.

What you may see is retired or unavailable-for-India players signing — for example, ex-internationals who have either retired internationally but remain T20-active, or players who fall outside the BCCI's NOC framework. We'll list confirmed names once draft signings close.

Women's side: a clearer picture

The women's landscape is different. The BCCI has been visibly more permissive about Indian women's players appearing in overseas leagues, and several Indian internationals have featured in The Hundred's women's competition over the last three seasons.

Names to watch for the 2026 edition:

• Smriti Mandhana — has featured at Southern Brave previously; an obvious headline draw if she signs again
• Harmanpreet Kaur — Trent Rockets connection; also a prior Hundred player
• Deepti Sharma — London Spirit connection in earlier editions

Final retentions and signings for the women's 2026 edition will be confirmed in the women's draft window (typically late May / early June). With the Women's T20 World Cup 2026 running in England immediately after, expect a strong contingent of India women players in The Hundred — both for the playing time and the conditioning before a home(-host)-soil World Cup.

For our broader take on India women's pre-WC preparation, including the Women's Asia Cup 2026 angle, see the linked hubs.

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The 100-ball format — a quick primer

If you are coming to The Hundred for the first time, the format takes about three balls to understand. Here it is:

• Each side faces 100 balls (not 120 like a T20).
• Each set of overs is 5 balls long (not 6) — a "5-ball over" is the unit.
• A bowler can deliver up to 20 balls per innings, in spells of 5 or 10 consecutive balls.
• Powerplay: first 25 balls of each innings — fielding restrictions same as T20 (only two fielders outside the 30-yard circle).
• A "strategic timeout" — actually called a two-and-a-half-minute break — typically falls around the 50-ball mark.
• Fielding side has 75 seconds between sets of 5 balls. Slower over-rates incur stop-clock-style penalties (similar to the broader ICC playing conditions 2026 framework).

The net result: matches finish in roughly 2 hours 30 minutes, slightly faster than a typical T20. The shorter "over" and the 10-ball spell option give bowlers tactical flexibility — a bowler can mid-innings be brought back for a 10-ball burst rather than two separate spells of 6.

For new viewers used to T20 cricket, the easiest mental shortcut is: it is broadly a T20 with 20 fewer balls, slightly different over-counting, and one extra strategic break.

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Storylines we are tracking

1. The defending champions

The 2025 men's title went to Oval Invincibles for the third time in five seasons — the most successful franchise in The Hundred's short history. Their core (Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Adam Hose, Nathan Sowter) has been retained. They start as favourites again.

The 2025 women's title went to Oval Invincibles women — same franchise, same dominance. Marizanne Kapp and Lauren Bell anchored the bowling; Alice Capsey and Meg Lanning's replacement signing did the heavy batting lifting.

2. The Hundred's ownership question

In late 2024, the ECB began the process of inviting private investment into the eight franchises. The first round of that process closed in 2025, with strategic stakes sold in several teams. The 2026 edition will be the first played under the new ownership structures — and franchises are visibly investing more in marquee signings as a result.

3. Marquee men's signings to watch

Cross-format superstars from Australia, the West Indies and South Africa typically make up the core international cohort. Watch for marquee signings of CPL 2026 regulars — Pollard, Pooran, Russell — who often double up between the two leagues thanks to overlapping calendars.

4. The women's WC tune-up

With the Women's T20 World Cup beginning in England in mid-June 2026 — and the Hundred starting July 21 — the timing is genuinely awkward. The full Hundred squad lists for women's sides will only emerge once World Cup commitments wind up. Expect a flurry of late signings as squads get finalised between the WC final and the Hundred opener.

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How to watch (India)

In India, The Hundred 2026 broadcast will be confirmed by the ECB and its India rights partner closer to the tournament. Recent editions have been carried by:

• TV: Sony Sports Network (selective fixtures)
• Digital: FanCode (full coverage, including women's matches)

If the same arrangement carries over, the simplest setup for Indian fans is FanCode — which has historically had the broadest, women's-inclusive Hundred coverage. We will update this section once formal confirmation drops.

In the UK, every match is on Sky Sports, with BBC carrying selected men's and women's matches free-to-air for terrestrial reach.

Start times in IST (typical):

• Evening fixtures (most matches): 11:00 PM IST start (6:30 PM BST)
• Saturday / Sunday afternoon double-headers: Women's match begins around 6:30 PM IST (2:00 PM BST), men's match follows at 10:30 PM IST (6:00 PM BST)

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Why The Hundred matters in 2026

After five seasons of mixed reception — initial scepticism, gradual acceptance, a women's competition that exceeded expectations — The Hundred has settled into the global T20 calendar as a legitimate mid-July to mid-August window. For Indian audiences, two things make 2026 particularly worth watching:

• Women's WC overlap: Indian women's stars playing in the same conditions, on the same grounds, in the weeks right after a home(-host)-soil World Cup — and against many of the same opponents — is a unique alignment.
• Format curiosity: The 100-ball format remains a global outlier. With the BCCI quietly consulting on potential new domestic short-format experiments, watching how 100-ball cricket performs in 2026 has indirect Indian-cricket relevance.

For more international previews, see our domestic cricket category. And for the parallel calendar action, the Caribbean Premier League 2026 hub covers the August-September CPL window that overlaps with The Hundred's closing stages.

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Frequently Asked Questions

When does The Hundred 2026 start? The Hundred 2026 begins on July 21, 2026, with the men's opener (typically Oval Invincibles at home). The Final is scheduled for August 16, 2026 at Lord's — the men's and women's deciders are played as a same-day double-header.

Can Indian players play in The Hundred 2026? Active Indian men's international players have historically not received BCCI no-objection-certificates to play overseas T20 leagues during their international careers, and as of May 2026 no active India men's player has been confirmed for The Hundred 2026. The picture is different for the women's competition — Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, and other India internationals have featured in earlier editions and are expected to be in the 2026 frame.

How is the 100-ball format different from T20? Each side faces 100 balls instead of 120. Overs are 5 balls long instead of 6, and bowlers can bowl up to 20 balls per innings, in spells of 5 or 10 consecutive balls. The Powerplay covers the first 25 balls. Matches typically finish in around 2 hours 30 minutes.

How can I watch The Hundred 2026 in India? Broadcast confirmation is expected closer to the tournament. Recent editions have been on Sony Sports Network (selective fixtures) and FanCode (full coverage including women's). FanCode has typically been the most complete option for Indian audiences.

Who are the defending champions? Oval Invincibles defended both the men's and women's 2025 titles. They are the most successful franchise in The Hundred's history, with three men's titles in five seasons.