Australia v Pakistan: Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 – live

Key events

2m ago

WICKET! Wareham c Feroza b Rameen Shamim 5 (107-4)

6m ago

Gardner c Diana Baig b Nashra Sandhu 0 (Pakistan 100-3)

8m ago

WICKET! Voll c Iram Javed b Nashra Sandhu 40 (Australia 100-1)

49m ago

WICKET! Mooney c Feroza b Sadia 0 (Austrlaia 0-1)

1h ago

Pakistan XI

1h ago

Australia XI

1h ago

Australia win the toss and will bat

1h ago

Preamble

11th over: Australia 110-4 (Perry 52, Sutherland 1) Perry’s highest scores in the T20 world cup comes and goes almost without mention as Australia suffer a succession of mishaps the other end.

WICKET! Wareham c Feroza b Rameen Shamim 5 (107-4)

On the juggle but Feroza holds on at point! What a fightback by Pakistan.

10th over: Australia 104-3 (Perry 48, Wareham 4) Two in the over for Nashra Sandhu and another duck for Australia!

Gardner c Diana Baig b Nashra Sandhu 0 (Pakistan 100-3)

An groggy old swipe from Gardner gives deep midwicket an easy catch!

WICKET! Voll c Iram Javed b Nashra Sandhu 40 (Australia 100-1)

The breakthrough! Voll pitchforks four straight to long on and Javed makes no mistake.

9th over: Australia 96-1 (Perry 48, Voll 36) Oh for a finger tip – Aliya leaps at long-on as Perry fires Shamim down the ground, but it just passes by for six. Voll adds to her boundary count with a strong-woman four.

8th over: Australia 81-1 (Perry 41, Voll 30) Lots of little girls in the ground bounce up and down happily with their four signs as Diana gets pasted for two four – Voll dusting her past the keeper, Perry with another powerful pull. Great fact from the radio – Diana is named after Princess Diana because her dad was a big fan.

7th over: Australia 71-1 (Perry 32, Voll 20) Shamim, the offspinner, bowling in a cap and specs. She dries her hands in the Leeds dust. Just seven from it as Australia pick out the fielders.

6th over: Australia 64-1 (Perry 32, Voll 20) Oh Sue, very strict with her legside wides, calls two in a row from Fatima. But apart from Voll’s wristy four to start the over, that’s the only boundary. The end of the power play is signalled with a flagon of orange squash – the most expensive power play of the competition.

But – that was the first time Australia lost a wicket with the first ball in a T20 World Cup.

5th over: Australia 56-1 (Perry 31, Voll 15) This is looking like a bit of shellacking already I’m afraid. Two more boundaries in the over – Voll goes legside, Perry off side. Sadia Iqbal trudges through the mire.

4th over: Australia 45-1 (Perry 26, Voll 10) Diana Baig now, short hair bouncing behind her. An outside edge from Perry flies fo four then more running for the Pakistan fielders as Perry pans another through midwicket. A third four from an athletic-looking ramp – no messing about with fripperies – and five wides to finish. Nineteen from the over.

3rd over: Australia 26-1 (Perry 12, Voll 10) Voll fancies this and pancakes Sadia down the ground for four. But that’s the only boundary from the over.

2nd over: Australia 19-1 (Perry 10, Voll 5) Fatima Sana with the next over. The second ball threatens to go for four wides, but that woman Feroza again stops it just before the rope. The third is square driven by Perry for four. And the next pulled upwards and wristily and gloriously for four more. Hmmm. Now Voll joins in, pinging Fatima down the ground. A nasty 17 from the over.

1st over: Australia 2-1 (Perry 1, Voll 1) Not the start anyone was expecting! Unbelievable worldie from Feroza off a Mooney outside edge.

WICKET! Mooney c Feroza b Sadia 0 (Austrlaia 0-1)

What a blinder from Feroza who clutches the egg almost before it has left the chicken, diving to her right at slip. Mooney out first ball of the match!

The cameras have found some fans now, mostly hiding in the shaded end Here come the players and the mascots. The Pakistan team, to a woman, place hand on heart. The Aussies link arms and look formidable

Two results already today – New Zealand knocked Scotland out of the competition, winning by six wickets with an over and a bit to spare at Bristol; while Sri Lanka thrashed Ireland by nine wickets thanks to an unbeaten century from Chamari Athapaththu to keep their hopes alive. If they can defeat Scotland on Friday and the other results fall their way, they’re through!

It’s hot, hot, hot at Headingley – 30 degrees at 6 o’clock and the stands look pretty empty – but it might be that people are hiding in the shade behind the until the action starts.

Pakistan XI

Pakistan: Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali (wk), Ayesha Zafar, Iram Javed, Saira Jabeen, Aliya Riaz, Fatima Sana (c), Rameen Shamim, Diana Baig, Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal.

Fatima Sana announces two changes from the last match – Diana Baig and Rameen Shamim are in, Tuba Hassan and Tasmia Rubab benched.

Australia XI

Australia: Beth Mooney, (wk) Georgia Voll, Ellyse Perry, Ash Gardner, Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, Nicola Carey, Sophie Molineux (c), Alana King, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton.

An unchanged XI.

Australia win the toss and will bat

Sophie Molineaux says, “We hope to put a big total. We’ve tried to stay in the moment. We are unchanged today.”

Phoebe Litchfield is training well and nearly there.

Pakistan would have batted too.

The Aussies need to win two games to be sure of reaching the semi-finals, but one would probably be enough because of their tip-top run-rate -4.39. Pakistan are already done and dusted.

Preamble

Tanya Aldred

Hello, hope you’re somewhere near a fan or some shade on this broiling afternoon. This game should be a bit of a mismatch, between a green and gold juggernaut (three games, three wins) and a sage tabby cat (three games, three defeats). But upsets do happen and Pakistan will be keen to give the Aussies a bump on the nose. They’ll be tossing the official WC coin shortly.