DOMINANT AUSSIES STREAMROLL PAKISTAN FOR A MASSIVE WIN

ICC 10th WOMEN's WORLD CUP - Match 21 – Australia v Pakistan at Leeds on 23 June 2026

Result – Australia beat Pakistan by 113 runs
Points – Australia 2(8), Pakistan 0(0)
Toss – Australia
Umpires – Sue Redfern, Vrinda Rathi, Jacqueline Williams (TV)
Player of the Match – Ellyse Perry

Match Centre Link - You can view the scorecard, watch highlights and engage more at Match Centre of ICC. The match can be accessed here. 

AUSTRALIA INNINGS

IF ELLYSE STATEMENT
The 21^st match of T20 World Cup featured Australia and Pakistan at Leeds. Australia after three comprehensive wins would look to continue their dominance while Pakistan without a win in three matches can only hope to put a fight. Pakistan brought in Diana and Rameen into the squad opting out for Tasmia and Tuba. Australia stuck to the same squad of last match that can bat till 11 and bowl from 3.

Australia won the toss and chose to bat. Georgia Voll and Beth Mooney, the keepers of Australia, were the openers. Sadia opened with spin for Pakistan. Sadia took a wicket first ball to send the Pakistan fans into  raptures. The ball spun in towards Beth and Beth was late to cut. She edged the ball which went flying ahead of first slip. Gull flew threw her right and held an impressive catch. Sadia completed the over with 2 singles and four dots. Fatima Sana, the most impressive of the PAK bowlers so far, was taken to the cleaners by Ellyse and Vollie. Fatima started with a dot. She bowled a wide ball and thanks to a good fielding effort, a boundary on wide was prevented. However Vollie & Ellyse ran 3 making it 4 runs. Perry greeted her big Fan Sana with a lovely square drive and hammered her in the next ball with a powerful pull. After a single, Vollie took strike and charge when she lofted a full length ball over mid off. Fatima ended with a dot. But between the 2 dots, the 17 run over more than negated any impact created by the first ball wicket. Sadia continued from the other end and gave 7 runs this time including a Vollie playing on the V. Diana Baig, playing her first match of the tournament replaced her skipper from the other end. Her 2^nd ball was a lucky one for Ellyse as she got a thick edge that ran quickly to boundary. Her 3^rd ball was a shot one and Perry slapped it square for a boundary. Her 5^th ball saw Ellyse play a scoop to perfection for another boundary. Diana bowled a wide one next that bet the batter and keeper for four runs. Diana went for 19 runs in that over. Sadia bowled her third on the trot and was clobbered towards leg side by Ellyse and cut through the off side by Vollie for 2 boundaries. Sadia gave 11 runs in the 5^th over. Fatima came back for the 6^th over and began with a boundary and 2 wides. But she recovered well to complete the over with 8 runs only. AUS had raced to 64/1 at the completion of power play. If the PAK spinners couldn’t turn it back, 219 seemed in danger.

PEDIGREE AND PROTÉGÉ
Rameen came in for the 7^th over and conceded 7 without boundaries or extras. Diana came back for the 8^th over. She started with a shot ball that was dispatched to boundary by Ellyse. Her third ball was angled into the pads and Vollie flawlessly flicked it between keeper and short fine leg for another boundary. Diana conceded 12 in the over. Rameen’s 9^th over saw the first sixer of the innings as Ellyse casually came down and lofted one over long on. Vollie played another exquisite cut one ball later as Rameen conceded 13 in the 9^th over. Nashra came in as a change and was greeted with a boundary over her head by Vollie.That brought the 100 for Aussies as well. A dot ball later, Vollie holed out to long off and Iram Javed did well to judge and hold the catch. Another dot ball later, Ash Gardner(who seemed in double mind whether to pull the ball or not) pulled the ball late but straight to Diana at the cow corner. Georgia Wareham walked in an unperturbed by the proceedings swept the last ball to the deep square leg for a boundary. Nashra’s 10^th over had 2 boundaries, 2 dots and 2 wickets. However from 0/1 to 100/3, AUS had totally dominated the proceedings. At 104/3 at half way mark, AUS looked going well past 200. Rameen continued from the other end and started with giving away 3 singles and the third one brought a 30 ball fifty for Ellyse. She struck a big blow when she had Georgia Wareham cut one straight to Gull Feroza at point in the 4^th ball. AUS slided down from 100/1 to 107/4 as Annabel joined Ellyse. The pedigree and the protégé suddenly had a task cut out. Nashra continued from the other end and kept things quiet except for the 3^rd ball which was amiably steered by Annabel towards the leg side boundary for a four. Ayesha Zafar came in as the 6^th Pak bowling option and bowled remarkably well given the circumstances. She conceded a boundary to Annabel but gave away only 7 runs. Nashra bowled her third on trot and was hit for boundaries in her first two balls by Annabel. Annabel played a majestic cover drive first and a valiant pull in the second ball. Ayesha’s next over had a boundary by Ellyse after quite some time. Nashra bowled her fourth on the trot in the 16^th over. She bowled remarkably better and conceded just 4 runs. At the end of 16 overs, AUS were 151/4. While PAK spinners and Ayesha need to be credited, Annabel & Ellyse were in good nick and we looked good for yet another 200

A MISSED LANDMARK
Rameen came to bowl her fourth and struck first ball when Annabel’s heave over the on side was completed by a good running catch by Fatima. Nicola Carey came in and cooly struck a couple of boundaries in the over and also collected 4 byes. The AUS batting unit just keeps barraging their way. Fatima bowled the 18^th and started with a boundary to her idol, Ellyse. A dot ball later, Ellyse couldn’t connect Fatima’s bouncer and Muneeba did well to capture the ball. When PAK appealed, I thought it was a kneejerk response. The umpire turned down but DRS detected a faint edge of the gloves. Ellyse departed for a well made 71. But Nicola showed her good nick by hitting one more boundary of the over. Sadia bowled the penultimate over and after a slot ball that was swept for a boundary by Sophie, she had sweet revenge bowling the Australian skipper the next ball. Nicola found another boundary in the over. Fatima Sana closed out the innings and conceded 13 which included a boundary by Alana King and 4 byes. AUS were 199/7 and I had a feeling that PAK would get a wicket last ball like they got the first ball and that we would be saved from another 200 in this World Cup. I was half right when Fatima finished with a dot ball. No wicket in the final over after 3 wickets in 3 overs. And no team 200 as well. Nonetheless, it was hard to hope that PAK would go for a chase. I was already thinking on the victory margin for the Aussies and was confident it would be more than 60.

PAKISTAN INNINGS

RUN OUTS AND COUNTER ATTACKS
Gull Feroza and Muneeba Ali opened for PAK and Muneeba needed to go long and strong if PAK wanted to provide a good response. Lucy Hamilton opened the attack for AUS and kept it to 3 singles and 3 dots. Muneeba got the first boundary when she cut a short ball by Kim in the next over for a lovely boundary. The next ball was a tragedy of errors. Kim bowled wide and Beth fumbled in collecting it. Gull came in for the run while Muneeba was watching the ball. Vollie collected the ball in a flash and threw it to Kim who ran out Gull in the non strikers end. Sophie came in first change and Saira was lucky to get a thick edge for a boundary first ball. A dot ball later, Saira ran out of luck as she slog swept Sophie for Ash to take an easy catch at deep midwicket. Sophie & Kim restrained PAK with dots for the next 5 balls before pulled Kim for a boundary. A ball later, Muneeba clobbered Kim for a sixer over long on. Ayesha faced Lucy in the 1^st ball of the 5^th over. Ayesha pushed the ball to cover and sprinted for a single only to be sent back by Muneeba. Before she could get back, Sophie & Beth ensured the bails were taken off. Lucy lost her own rhythm after bowling well when she bowled 2 wides after 4 good balls. Muneeba was granted a short ball after the 2 wides and she gleefully dispatched it over mid wicket for a boundary. Ash Gardner came to close the power play. Iram Javed cut the first ball in off side gap, came down and hoisted the second ball over mid on and went inside out in the third ball. With the hat trick of boundaries, Iram provided the much needed impetus to the PAK chase. PAK closed the power play at 50/3. Muneeba & Iram can ensure a good fight for PAK. A successful chase seemed to be out of question.

GOING DOWNHILL
Georgia Wareham took all the hope in the 7^th over which was a wicket maiden. She had Iram chopping her 2^nd ball to the stumps and had Aliya in all sorts of trouble in the next few balls. Annabel began the 8^th over and kept the PAK batters at bay before Muneeba late cut the last ball for a much needed boundary. Alana was the 7^th Aussie bowler to be used and she bowled the 9^th over and it went for 8 runs. Aliya finally got going when she cut one from Alana exactly between short third and point for a welcome boundary. Ellyse came in as the 8^th bowling option and wiped out any options of a PAK recovery when she had Muneeba playing out a short ball to Ash at deep mid wicket. Skipper Fatima Sana pulled her idol over midwicket for a boundary and a misfield by Alana in the next ball saw her get successive boundaries. However it was Ellyse’s day as she closed the over with another wicket. Aliya tried to scoop the last ball over short fine leg but found an edge which had no trouble meeting Beth’s gloves. PAK were 74/6 at the half way mark. Sophie followed Ellyse and so did a two wicket over. In the 4^th ball, Rameen came down the wicket and struck the ball straight to Vollie at mid off. Vollie returned the ball to Beth in a flash and Raheem was caught short trying to run back to the crease. In the last ball of the over, Sophie bowled Nashra through her pads. Fatima & Diana saw through the next two overs bowled by Ash and Georgia which combined went for six runs. Fatima finally found a boundary in 14^th over bowled by Annabel. She danced down and sliced one across legside for a boundary. Annabel had sweet revenge the next ball as she induced a top edge that went high up and safely landed on Beth’s gloves. A wide later, Annabel closed the PAK innings when Sadia edged one to Beth. PAK were all out for 86 in 13.4 overs. From 50/3 in 6 to 86/10 in 13.4, it all went downhill for PAK. They lost by 113 runs. Interestingly this is not the biggest victory margin in a T20 World cup because PAK lost to ENG by 114 runs in the 2023 World Cup. While this win ensures AUS will finish mostly on the top of the table, this loss also ensures PAK a strong possibility to finish at the bottom of the table.