Leeds: Ellyse Perry backed up her half-century with two wickets to lead Australia to a dominant 113-run win over Pakistan in the 21st match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 at Headingley on Tuesday.
Chasing the 200-run target, Pakistan piled up 86 runs in 13.4 overs and were bowled out by Muneefa Ali’s spirited performance.
The left-handed opener was on his own for Pakistan with 32 off 25 balls until he fell to Ellyse Perry in the 10th over. Apart from him, only Iram Javed (14) and captain Fatima Sana (17) managed to score a double century.
For Australia, Annabelle Sutherland, captain Sophie Molyneux and Perry took 2 wickets each and Georgia Wareham took a scalp.
Aided by a century-plus partnership between Perry and Georgia Wall, Australian captain Sophie Molyneux’s decision to bat first saw them amass 199/7 in 20 overs.
However, six-time champion Sadia Iqbal got off to a contrasting start as she dismissed left-arm opener Beth Mooney (zero) on the first delivery of the innings.
After stumbling early on, Perry combined with Woll in the middle and the duo recovered admirably to add 100 for the second wicket.
Having scored 39 off 28 balls with the help of 7 fours, Nashra Sandhu dismissed Wall in the 10th over to end the threatening partnership.
Sandhu again ducked Ashleigh Gardner in two balls in the same over to reduce Australia to 100/3.
Ramin Shamim dealt another blow to Australia’s batting charge in the next over when he was caught by Georgia Wareham (five)’s Gul Beroza.
With the scoreboard reading 107/4 in 10.4 overs, Annabelle Sutherland joined Berry in the middle and the pair put on a vital 44-run partnership for the fifth wicket before both were dismissed in subsequent overs to frustrate the pace-laden Pakistan bowling.
Sutherland was the main contributor to Australia’s total with 27 off 18 balls with 4 fours, while Perry top-scored with 71 off 48 balls with 9 fours and a six.
For his all-round brilliance, Perry was adjudged man of the match.
Australia suffered another setback in the form of skipper Molineux (five) off the second delivery of the last over, but middle-order batsman Nicola Carey’s unbeaten 26 off 13 balls lifted their total at the back.
On the Pakistani side, Sandhu, Sadia and Ramin took 2 wickets each and Captain Fatima Sana took one wicket.
The humbling defeat, which marked Pakistan’s fourth successive defeat, left them fourth in the Group 1 standings, ahead of bottom-placed Netherlands, who they next face on Saturday.
Pakistan have already crashed out of Group 1 in the semi-finals following their 23-run defeat to Bangladesh last week.
Conversely, it was Australia’s fourth straight win in the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 and confirmed their top spot with eight points and a whopping net run rate of 4.724.