Australia, led by skipper Sophie Molineux with an aim to extend their three-match unbeaten streak, were up against Pakistan, led by skipper Fatima Sana, on 23rd June 2026, at Headingley, Leeds, in the final game of the 4th triple-header of the ongoing 10th edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, hosted by England and Wales.
New Zealand (by 6 wickets) and Sri Lanka (by 9 wickets) registered dominant victories against Scotland and Ireland earlier in the day to keep their campaign alive in the tournament.
Australia retained the same side that took the field in their previous clash against the Netherlands. Pakistan made a couple of changes; The experienced Diana Baig got her first opportunity of the tournament, replacing Tasmia Rubab. Rameen Shamim made her way into the side, replacing Tuba Hassan.
The Australian skipper Sophie Molineux won the toss and opted to bat first. Skipper Fatima Sana handed the ball to her most experienced spinner, the left-armer Sadia Iqbal, and she provided Pakistan with a dream start, dismissing the wicket-keeper Beth Mooney for a platinum duck on the first ball of the match.
Ellyse Perry joined opening batter Georgia Voll at the crease, and the pair counter-attacked with a massive 100-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. Pakistan bounced back via a double strike from Nashra Sandhu, removing Georgia Voll (39 off 28 balls) and Ashleigh Gardner for a duck in the 10th over of the innings. The Australians were further reduced to 107/4 in the 11th over of the innings, applying the brakes on the scoring rate.
Annabel Sutherland joined Ellyse Perry at the crease, and the duo stitched another crisp 44-run partnership for the 5th wicket, which also took them past the 150-run mark. Rameen Shamim broke the stand by sending Annabel Sutherland (27 off 18 balls) back to the pavilion in the 17th over of the innings. The Fatima Sana-led side pulled things back yet again with a couple of quick strikes. However, a quick-fire 21-run stand for the 8th wicket between Nicola Carey (26* off 13 balls) and Alana King pushed the total to 199/7 in their quota of 20 overs.
The legendary superstar, Ellyse Perry, registered her maiden ICC Women’s T20 World Cup half-century (71 off 48 balls) in the 10th edition of the tournament. The innings had as many as 21 extras, the 3rd most in an innings in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup history. Sadia Iqbal (4-0-31-2), Nashra Sandhu (4-0-33-2), and Rameen Shamim (4-0-34-2) picked up a couple of wickets each with the ball for Pakistan.
Chasing a massive target of 200, Pakistan were pushed on the back foot courtesy of their continued history of run-outs, with Gull Feroza being the latest victim in the 2nd over of the innings. The wicket-keeper batter Muneeba Ali was shortly involved in another run-out, sacrificing Ayesha Zafar down the river in the 5th over of the run chase. Despite all the drama, Pakistan managed to become only the 2nd team after India to take down 50 runs against the Australian attack in the powerplay.
Pakistan failed to register substantial partnerships as a result and kept losing wickets at regular intervals, courtesy of mindless slogging. A 20-run 4th wicket partnership between Muneeba Ali (32 off 25 balls) and Iram Javed (14 off 9 balls) was the highest partnership of the run chase. A dramatic collapse resulted in Pakistan going from 50/3 in the powerplay to 86 all out in the 14th over of the run chase.
They lost their last 7 wickets for just 36 runs, falling 113 runs short of the target, with 38 balls to spare, handing Australia their largest and the joint 2nd largest victory in terms of runs in the history of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. Annabel Sutherland (1.4-0-12-2), skipper Sophie Molineux (2-0-6-2), and Ellyse Perry (1-0-9-2) picked up a couple of wickets with the ball for Australia. Georgia Wareham (2-1-2-1) played her part with the ball for her side.
Ellyse Perry was awarded the Player of the Match for her sensational all-round show, scoring 71 (48 balls) with the bat coming in at number 3, with her knock including 9 boundaries and a maximum. She also landed a double strike (1-0-9-2) yet again with the ball for her side with the ball. She picked up her 5th Player of the Match award for Australia in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup over the years, placing her 2nd on the list, as Sophie Molineux’s Australia make it 4 out of 4 in their campaign so far.
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