Australia v Bangladesh, T20 World Cup: match preview

15 Jun 2026 Laura Jolly, in Leeds

Get the broadcast info, latest team news, start times and more as Australia continue their T20 World Cup campaign against Bangladesh

Match facts

Who: Australia v Bangladesh

What: Match 9, ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026, Group 1

When: Wednesday, June 17. First ball 10:30am local time (7:30pm AEST)

Where: Headingley, Leeds

Live scores: Match Centre

How to watch: Prime Video

Officials: Lauren Agenbag, Candace la Borde (on field), Sue Redfern (TV), Jacqueline Williams (fourth), Shandre Fritz (referee)

News and reactions post-play: cricket.com.au and the CA Live app

Broadcast info

All 33 matches will be shown exclusively live on Prime Video in Australia, which holds the Aussie broadcast rights for all ICC events until the end of 2027. There is no free-to-air Australian television broadcast under the deal, however Prime Video have made this tournament free to access - you will still need a Prime account and to login, but no payment is required to watch matches from the tournament. You can sign up here for Prime Video - which includes a 30-day free trial.

If joining the broadcast late, Prime Video offers a 'rapid recap' feature, which will bring fans up to speed on the best action so far. Prime Video will also produce on-demand highlights packages after every match along with full match replays, available immediately after the match has finished.

The squads

Australia: 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

Bangladesh: Nigar Sultana Joty (c), Nahida Akter (vc), Sharmin Akter Supta, Sobhana Mostary, Shorna Akter, Ritu Moni, Rabeya Khan, Fahima Khatun, Fariha Islam Trisna, Marufa Akter, Shanjida Akther Maghla, Sultana Khatun, Dilara Akter, Juairiya Ferdous, Taj Nehar

Possible XIs

Australia: Beth Mooney (wk), Georgia Voll, Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, Nicola Carey, Sophie Molineux, Kim Garth, Megan Schutt

It was spin to win for the Aussies at Old Trafford as they deployed all four of Sophie Molineux, Ashleigh Gardner, Georgia Wareham and Alana King. Manchester is the most spin-friendly of the venues, however, and a move to Headingley for this match likely brings a change in approach, particularly with Australia's most experienced pace bowler Megan Schutt available to come into the playing XI.

Bangladesh: Dilara Akter Dola, Juairiya Ferdous, Sharmin Akter Supta, Nigar Sultana Joty (c, wk), Sobhana Mostary, Shorna Akter, Ritu Moni, Sanjida Akther Maghla, Rabeya Khan, Marufa Akter, Fariha Islam Trisna

Bangladesh eased to victory over the Netherlands in their tournament opener in Birmingham and will be tempted to stick with a winning combo against the Aussies.

Opener Juairiya Ferdous, who debuted earlier this year, started her tournament with a half-century, while middle-order batter Sharmin Akter Supta was solid in icing the chase at Edgbaston.

Australia v Bangladesh World Cup history

Australia and Bangladesh have met twice in the nine previous T20 World Cups.

The first was in Canberra during the 2020 tournament, where Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney shared in a century opening stand to set up what was ultimately an 85-run win for the hosts.

In Gqeberha in 2023, Georgia Wareham took 3-20 to help restrict the Tigers to 7-107, and while Australia took 18.2 overs to chase the small target, Meg Lanning's unbeaten 48 sealed an eight-wicket win.

Group 1 latest

Australia's hefty opening win against the Proteas has them sitting top of Group 1 on net run rate after each team has played one match. India, who enjoyed a comprehensive win against neighbours Pakistan in their Group 1 opener, sit second narrowly behind the Aussies, while Bangladesh also won their opener against the Netherlands.

India will be heavy favourites to again win heavily against the Dutch side in Wednesday's second match at Headingley, making the clash between winless South Africa and Pakistan (3:30am AEST Thursday) a fascinating one as defeat for either side will put a serious dent in any hopes they harbour of making the semi-finals.

Further ahead, the South Africa v India clash next Sunday looms as a pivotal blockbuster.

Players to watch

Phoebe Litchfield

Litchfield starred with a fast fifty // ICC/Getty

Phoebe Litchfield missed Australia's warm-up matches with a quad niggle but it did not slow her down against the Proteas as she hammered a 23-ball half-century batting at No.3.

Litchfield has called Headingley home in The Hundred. Of the players taking part in this T20 World Cup, she is the leading run scorer in women's domestic T20 (and Hundred) matches at the ground, averaging 41.66 with a strike rate of 140.

Litchfield conquers nerves, Proteas ace in breakout innings

Juairiya Ferdous

Juairiya Ferdous top scored against the Netherlands // ICC/Getty

Juairiya Ferdous, 20, has started the tournament in ominous form, hitting 50 from just 33 balls in Bangladesh's tournament opener against the Netherlands at Edgbaston. She also hit 50 in their warm-up against Ireland.

A former member of their U19 side, Ferdous is just 14 matches into her T20I career after debuting earlier this year and will be an unknown prospect for the Aussie bowlers.

Local knowledge

Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham and Phoebe Litchfield have all called Headingley home in The Hundred, while a host of other Aussies will be able to draw on recent experience at the venue thanks to the 100-ball tournament. Australia have never played a T20I at the ground and last played an international at Headingley in a 2001 Test match.

Form guide

Past 10 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, N: No result

Australia: W W W W L W L W W W

Australia made a major statement in their opening game of the tournament, thrashing fellow title hopeful South Africa by 65 runs at Old Trafford.

Prior to that, Australia swept the West Indies 3-0 in St Vincent and the Grenadines in March, but suffered a T20 series loss on home soil to India in February, going down 1-2.

Bangladesh: W W W L L L L L L W W

Bangladesh eased home in the final over of their first match of the tournament against the Netherlands, sealing a six-wicket win. While the game went down to the wire, they never looked in any danger of falling shy of their target with two set batters and plenty of wickets in hand.

Leading into the tournament, Bangladesh had mixed results in a tri-series against Scotland and the Netherlands in Edinburgh, losing their opening two matches before bouncing back to win the final three.

Rapid stats

Australia have won all five of their previous meetings with Bangladesh in women’s T20Is, winning by at least 50 runs or eight wickets in each of those fixtures; two of those five meetings were at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, the most recent of which was an eight-wicket win for Australia during the 2023 Group Stage.
Each of Australia’s last nine women’s T20Is have been won by the team batting first on the day with Australia winning seven of those matches including their last four in a row. Australia have won 10 of their last 11 matches when batting first on the day.
Australia are on 12-match winning streak during the group stage of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and haven’t lost a group match since a 17-run loss to India in their opening game of the 2020 tournament.
Bangladesh have won their last three consecutive women’s T20Is after losing five in a row in the format prior to that, with seven of those eight matches won by the team which lost the toss on the day.
Bangladesh have won 16 of their last 18 women’s T20Is in Europe including their last three in a row; in fact, Europe is the only continent on which Bangladesh have a winning record in the format (W19 L5).
Australia have scored at a rate of 8.86 runs per over in women’s T20Is since the beginning of 2025 when they’ve batted second on the day, the best rate of any full member team and the second best of any team overall behind only Costa Rica (9.35).
Annabel Sutherland (49) is set to play her 50th T20I, becoming the 18th player to reach the milestone for Australia in the women’s format; she’s taken two or more wickets in four of her previous five T20I innings but finished without a wicket in Australia’s first match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026.
Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana Joty has scored 30+ runs in three of her last four T20I innings against Australia; in fact, she’s scored 169 runs at an average of 84.5 across her last four innings overall when Bangladesh have batted first on the day, including two half centuries.
Phoebe Litchfield (9 fours, 1 six) hit 10 boundaries against South Africa in Australia’s first match of the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup campaign, the joint-most of any Australia player at the World Cup since Alyssa Healy hit 12 (7 fours, 5 sixes) against India in the 2020 Final.
Sobhana Mostary (969) is 31 runs shy of becoming the third player to score 1,000 runs for Bangladesh in women’s T20Is; however, she’s reached that mark in only one of her previous eight innings in the format and has scored just 12 runs from three innings against Australia (7, 0, 5).

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