Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, PAK-W vs SA-W 11th Match, Group 1 Match Preview

Who’s playing whom?

The triple-header day begins with Australia taking on Bangladesh in Leeds at 10.30am local time (9.30am GMT). Australia are entering the game on the back of a dominant win against South Africa, having won by 65 runs in Manchester. Bangladesh, too, beat Netherlands in their opening game of the tournament in Birmingham. Australia have won all five T20Is they have played against Bangladesh, and this will be their third meeting in a T20 World Cup.

India and Netherlands then meet at the same venue at 2.30pm local time (1.30pm GMT). India beat Pakistan by 64 runs on Sunday to get their campaign off to a bright start, while Netherlands, first-timers at the T20 World Cup, lost to Bangladesh despite a spirited display. This will be their first-ever meeting in T20Is, and their first meeting in international cricket since 2000.

South Africa are set to take on Pakistan for the third match of the day, in Birmingham at 6.30pm local time (5.30pm GMT). Both teams are entering this game on the back of heavy losses in their respective opening fixtures, and they will also be looking for an NRR boost. Out of the 27 T20Is these two teams have played, South Africa have won 15.

Team news and likely XIs

Australia received a timely boost with Phoebe Litchfield returning to full fitness against South Africa. Batting at No. 3, she made an immediate impact, blazing a half-century off just 23 balls. There are no injury concerns for either side.

Australia (probable): 1 Beth Mooney (wk), 2 Georgia Voll, 3 Phoebe Litchfield, 4 Ellyse Perry, 5 Ashleigh Gardner, 6 Georgia Wareham, 7 Annabel Sutherland, 8 Nicola Carey, 9 Sophie Molineux (capt), 10 Kim Garth, 11 Alana King

Bangladesh (probable): 1 Dilara Akter, 2 Juairiya Ferdous, 3 Sharmin Akhter, 4 Nigar Sultana (capt, wk), 5 Sobhana Mostary, 6 Shorna Akter, 7 Ritu Moni, 8 Rabeya Khan, 9 Marufa Akter, 10 Sanjida Akter, 11 Fariha Trisna

India went with Bharti Fulmali instead of Yastika Bhatia against Pakistan and picked Arundhati Reddy and Kranti Gaud as the two seamers. It remains to be seen if they go in with the same combination.

India (probable): 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Jemimah Rodrigues, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Bharti Fulmali, 6 Richa Ghosh (wk), 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Shreyanka Patil, 9 Arundhati Reddy, 10 Kranti Gaud, 11 Shree Charani

Netherlands (probable): 1 Heather Siegers, 2 Phebe Molkenboer, 3 Babette de Leede (capt, wk), 4 Sterre Kalis, 5 Robine Rijke, 6 Sanya Khurana, 7 Frederique Overdijk, 8 Iris Zwilling, 9 Caroline de Lange, 10 Silver Siegers, 11 Isabel van der Woning

South Africa have tried six players at No. 3 since the last T20 World Cup, before settling on Annerie Derckson in the opening game against Australia. She, however, returned a run-a-ball 4 in the 173 chase.

Pakistan (probable): 1 Muneeba Ali (wk), 2 Gull Feroza, 3 Ayesha Zafar, 4 Saira Jabeen, 5 Natalia Pervaiz, 6 Aliya Riaz, 7 Fatima Sana (capt), 8 Rameen Shamim, 9 Nashra Sandhu, 10 Sadia Iqbal, 11 Tasmia Rubab

South Africa (probable): 1 Laura Wolvaardt (capt), 2 Sune Luus, 3 Annerie Dercksen, 4 Marizanne Kapp, 5 Chloe Tryon, 6 Nadine de Klerk, 7 Kayla Reyneke, 8 Sinalo Jafta (wk), 9 Shabnim Ismail, 10 Ayabonga Khaka, 11 Nonkululeko Mlaba

Players to watch

Georgia Wareham’s value was on display once again in the match against South Africa. In an allrounder-heavy superstar line-up, she found a way to stand out, smashing a brisk 32 off 22 balls from No. 6 before returning figures of 3 for 13. It included the key wicket of the dangerous Nadine de Klerk.

Opener Juairiya Ferdous may have made her Bangladesh debut only this year, but she has already shown signs of belonging on the big stage. In the chase against Netherlands, she struck 50 off 33 deliveries with seven fours and two sixes. Her innings laid the foundation for Bangladesh’s highest successful chase in T20 World Cups. A strong showing against South Africa would further underline her credentials.

For India, Shafali Verma has not been her explosive self since the beginning of this year. In the WPL, she made just 259 runs in ten games at a strike rate of 125.12 and followed that with 266 runs in 12 T20Is, although at a strike rate of 143.01 but at an average of 22.16. She was out early in the opener against Pakistan, caught behind for 6 in the first over. There were positives, however, as she chipped in with the ball to dismiss Pakistan captain Fatima Sana. A fixture against Netherlands presents an opportunity for Shafali to return to her free-flowing best.

Captain Babette de Leede remains central to Netherlands’ hopes. With her side in trouble at 76 for 5, a much lower total appeared likely before de Leede launched a measured counterattack to take them to 139. She combined crisp drives, assured footwork and effective sweeps against the spinners, while also taking on the seamers. Her eighth T20I half-century once again highlighted her importance to the side.

Muneeba Ali was one of the few bright spots for Pakistan in the loss against India. She has made several crucial contributions for Pakistan in the format in the last few years, including a century against Ireland in Dublin last year. She rode her luck after being dropped early against India, using the scoop and cuts effectively during her 41 off 35 balls. Pakistan will once again look to her for stability at the top of the order.

Marizanne Kapp has endured a quiet year by her lofty standards, particularly with the bat. Her WPL campaign for Delhi Capitals yielded just 49 runs, although she continued to contribute with the ball, picking up ten wickets. Against Australia, she managed only 12 before being run out. South Africa will need one of their most experienced allrounders to rediscover her touch with the bat if they are to make a deep run in the tournament.

Weather and conditions

There’s some rain forecast for Wednesday morning at Headingley, which could impact the opening game, though the second fixture is expected to be less affected. The ground has hosted only one women’s T20I so far, in which England posted 176 batting first in 2024 against Pakistan. It’s expected to be another batting-friendly surface with a fast outfield, although the morning conditions could offer the seamers some help early on.

In Birmingham, there is a chance of rain later in the afternoon, but the forecast suggests clear skies for most of the evening. Teams batting first have won two out of the three games at the venue this World Cup. While batters have enjoyed value for their shots, the surface has also offered assistance to the spinners.

Quotes

“Australia is a very strong team, so it will be a big challenge for us to perform well and try to win. Our target will definitely be to win the match. Personally, I feel that the approach I had today (against Netherlands) was good, especially the intent to score more runs off fewer balls. Against Australia, I will try to maintain the same approach. My focus will be on making the best use of the powerplay and playing a big innings.”
Bangladesh opener Juairiya Ferdous

“They’ve got some hitters which is cool and I think probably their spinners, some crafty spinners. We’ve played a little bit against them the last couple of years, had a good series in Bangladesh against them, so we feel like we’ve got a good sense of their bowlers and we review teams really, really well.”
Australia allrounder Annabel Sutherland

Sruthi Ravindranath is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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