Australia find freedom in hunt for T20 World Cup title

5h ago Laura Jolly, in London

Lessons learned from consecutive World Cup heartbreaks driving Molineux's crew in the UK

Sophie Molineux says Australia can harness the freedom that comes with being the hunters, rather than the hunted, at the T20 World Cup as they seek to replenish their trophy cabinet.

Australia will go into the tournament in England as one of the favourites, having maintained the No.1 T20I team ranking that they have held since March 2018, but will not have the tag of 'defending champions' after their semi-final exit in 2024.

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It's a position they have not been in since 2018, when they held neither World Cup – but Molineux said the lessons learned from that 2024 tournament in the UAE, and last year's ODI World Cup heartbreak in India, has armed her team for success.

"I think it can free us up, if we harness that," she said of losing the 'defending champions' label. "I think the last couple of World Cups we've learned a whole lot and been able to implement a few things, and I feel like we've really evolved as a team in the last few months and even before that.

"I'm really excited, and I think the girls are really hungry to get out there and be able to put that in place. I don't think there's any better arena to be able to do it than at a World Cup with the big moments that are going to come in the next few weeks.

"If you look back over the last 10 years, we've been really successful, but I do think we probably have got more learnings out of the last two World Cups than what we had in the seven or eight before that."

Australia find themselves in what is undoubtedly the 'group of death' at the 12-team event, placed in Group A alongside South Africa – runners-up at the 2023 and 2024 T20 World Cups and 2025 ODI World Cup – and India, who come in buoyed after claiming their first major women's title last November.

Only the top two will advance to the semi-finals, with the potential for wet weather or for fellow Group A rivals Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Netherlands to produce upsets along the way.

"It's going to take consistency across all five games," Molineux said. "If you do slip up, you have to be able to bounce back really quickly."

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Australia's opening match will see them meet South Africa at Old Trafford on Saturday, June 13.

It will be the first time the teams have met in an official T20I since the Proteas stunned Australia in the 2024 semi-final in Dubai. However, the teams will go into the game freshly reacquainted, having met in a series of unofficial warm-up games in Arundel last week.

"I think that's probably the best way to get into a tournament like this, to play a class outfit in South Africa," Molineux said. "They've got an enormous amount of depth now and we're really looking forward to getting out there and hopefully starting the tournament on a really positive note."

ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026

Australia squad: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham. Travelling reserve: Tahlia Wilson