Pakistan captain Fatima Sana has taken the T20 World Cup by storm, with Australia her next challenge as her team looks to end an unbeaten run
Pakistan draw on Colombo for Aussie rematch
Pakistan will cast their minds back to a balmy Colombo afternoon last October as they plot a way to upset Australia's T20 World Cup run.
Undefeated Australia's next assignment is winless Pakistan at Headingley on Tuesday night, a team they have never lost to in any format.
Pakistan however gave the Aussies an almighty scare during last year's ODI World Cup, with their spinners combining with pace-bowling allrounder Fatima Sana to reduce Australia to 7-76.
It took a masterful century from Beth Mooney, who shared a record 106-run ninth-wicket partnership with Alana King, to steer her team to a match-winning total of 221, setting up what was ultimately a comfortable 107-run win.
Already out of semi-finals contention but desperate to get on the board, Pakistan opener Muneeba Ali said they could take some confidence from last year's match in Colombo, while acknowledging the conditions in Leeds may not offer the same assistance.
"In the last World Cup we managed to take early wickets of Australian side, but those were different conditions, different surfaces," Ali said on Monday.
"We’re here with different surfaces, different demands and a different format, so we will try … we have confidence from that match that we can do good things against them.
"We will try to make positive decisions from our batting and bowling so that we can be able to close the match in a winning side."
Given last year's experience, there's no danger of Sophie Molineux's Australian team taking their lower-ranked rivals lightly, particularly when the chance to strengthen their position on top of the Group 1 table is on the line.
"We know that they pose a completely different threat to what we just faced (against the Netherlands), so it's about making sure that we stay really adaptable, thinking about the moment, not necessarily thinking about what the semi-finals (race) looks like," allrounder Ashleigh Gardner said in Southampton last Saturday.
"If we play our best cricket, we know that we can get to the position that we want to be in.
"But we know that Pakistan are going to be tricky.
"They challenged us in the ODI World Cup, and Beth Mooney made one of the best centuries I've ever seen."
In what has so far been a tough run at this T20 World Cup for Pakistan, suffering a heavy defeat to India first up before further losses to South Africa and Bangladesh, their skipper Sana has been the sole shining light.
She scored an unbeaten 55 from 38 balls batting at No.8 against South Africa and has taken seven wickets at 9.57 including hauls of 3-16 and 2-18 against Bangladesh and the Proteas respectively.
Those performances, which have come off the back of strong form for Pakistan since she took over the captaincy in late 2024, saw Sana make history earlier this month when she became the first Pakistan woman to be signed by a Hundred franchise.
She'll join Australia allrounder Ellyse Perry – a player Sana has made no secret is someone she grew up admiring – at Birmingham Phoenix next month, but first, they'll be going head-to-head at Headingley with World Cup points on the line.
"We'll need some (plans) – she's been outstanding, and I think probably since she's stepped into the captaincy role, she's really grown as an allrounder and as one of the world's best at T20 cricket (among) the allrounders," Australia coach Shelley Nitschke said of Sana.
"We certainly know that she's the sort of player we need to be well planned for and be able to execute against her because she's showing that she can take a game away from a team."
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
Australia's Group 1 fixtures
June 13: beat South Africa by 65 runs
June 17: beat Bangladesh by nine wickets
June 20: beat Netherlands by 98 runs
June 24: v Pakistan, Headingley, Leeds, 3:30am AEST
June 28: v India, Lord's, London, 11:30pm AEST
Semi-final 1: The Oval, London, June 30, 11:30pm AEST
Semi-final 2: The Oval, London, July 2 (3:30am July 3 AEST)
Final: Lord's, London, July 5, 11:30pm AEST
Click here for the full tournament schedule
All matches will be broadcast on Amazon's Prime Video