Perry stars as Australia crush Bangladesh by nine wickets at the Women’s T20 World Cup
Ellyse Perry’s two wickets and an unbeaten cameo earned her the player-of-the-match award as a much-changed Australia brushed Bangladesh aside in Leeds to stay unbeaten in Group 1.
Jun 17, 2026
Australia barely broke stride at Headingley, taking apart Bangladesh by nine wickets to make it two wins from two at the Women’s T20 World Cup. Chasing 78 on June 17, they knocked off the runs inside the 10th over, and they did it without two of their biggest names.
Phoebe Litchfield and Ashleigh Gardner both sat out in Leeds. Litchfield is nursing the quad injury she picked up while making a rapid fifty against South Africa, and Gardner has an ankle sprain, with both expected to miss a chunk of the group stage. Neither absence came close to mattering. Australia’s bowlers squeezed Bangladesh from the first over, and Georgia Voll then turned the chase into a formality.
Bangladesh strangled after the toss
Sophie Molineux won the toss, put Bangladesh in, and watched the decision pay off almost at once. Dilara Akter fell in the second over and the innings never steadied, sliding to 27 for 5 inside the eighth as wickets tumbled at both ends. Kim Garth, Molineux and Ellyse Perry each finished with two, and the seamers and spinners gave the top order nothing to drive.
Captain Nigar Sultana dug in for 27 off 47 balls, comfortably her side’s top score, but she found almost no company. Ritu Moni’s 16 was the only other innings to reach double figures, and Bangladesh crawled to 77 for 8 from their 20 overs. Annabel Sutherland and Georgia Wareham mopped up the lower order, and a side that had opened the tournament by chasing down the Netherlands looked a long way short of that level here.
Voll makes light of the reply
The chase was barely a contest. Voll came out swinging and raced to 45 not out off 32 balls, striking six fours and a six and reaching the boundary almost at will. Australia had 50 on the board in 6.1 overs, and the only blemish was Beth Mooney caught by Ritu Moni for 10 off Marufa Akter.
Perry, named player of the match for her two wickets and an unbeaten 19, was there at the end as Australia cantered home in 9.3 overs with 63 balls to spare. It was the kind of low-key, no-fuss win that says as much about the gap in the contest as any thrashing would.
Two from two and counting
The result keeps Australia perfect in Group 1 after their earlier 65-run win over South Africa, and it arrived with a ruthlessness that the rest of the pool will have noted. Losing a player of Litchfield’s form would unsettle most teams; Australia simply handed the new ball around and watched five bowlers share the wickets. Their tougher examinations are still to come, but on this evidence the six-time champions remain in ominous shape.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, are left to regroup with their batting under the microscope. A total of 77 was never going to test the tournament’s most decorated side, and Nigar’s outfit will need far more from their top order to stay in the hunt for a knockout place.