Leeds: Pakistan captain Fatima Sana said her team’s performance was ‘poor’ following their 113-run loss to Australia in the 21st match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 at Headingley on Tuesday.
Opting to bat first, Australia scored 199 for 7 in 20 overs thanks to Ellis Perry’s brilliant half-century.
The veteran all-rounder top-scored for Australia with 71 off 48 balls with nine fours and a six. He was supported by right-handed opener Georgia Wall, who scored 39 off 28 balls with 7 fours.
Apart from the top-order pair, Annabelle Sutherland and Nicola Carey made significant contributions to Australia’s total with 27 and 26 respectively.
In reply, Pakistan mustered out 86 runs in 13.4 overs before succumbing to a humbling defeat, their fourth overall in the 12-team mega event.
Reflecting on Pakistan’s fourth successive defeat in the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup, captain Fatima insisted her team must accept that they played poor cricket before insisting they have to go back, reflect and improve themselves.
“I think we played poor cricket in this game and as a team we have to accept that. We have to go back, reflect and improve ourselves,” Fatima said in the post-match briefing.
“Personally, I think we had a lot of good training before coming here, but we still need a response from the team. That’s what we need now. Otherwise, we had some good training sessions and preparations,” he added.
He further insisted that Pakistan have good players who can perform well, but highlighted the need for collective contributions within the unit after citing their bright start with the ball as a positive for their heavy loss to six-time champions Australia.
“I think our bowling was really good, especially the way we started. Nashra and Sadia bowled well, which is great. We need more players to support them as we struggled in other areas,” Fatima continued.
“We have good players who can perform, but we need more contributions from everyone,” he concluded.
Notably, Pakistan have already crashed out of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 semi-final race from Group 1 following their 23-run defeat against Bangladesh, while they next face the Netherlands.