Australia v West Indies, T20 World Cup: semi-final preview

3h ago Laura Jolly, in London

A spot in the T20 World Cup final is on the line as Australia meet West Indies at The Oval

Match facts

Who: Australia v West Indies

What: First Semi-Final, ICC Women's T20 World Cup

When: Tuesday, June 30. First ball 2:30pm local time (11.30pm AEST)

Where: The Oval, London

Live scores: Match Centre

How to watch: Prime Video

Officials: To be announced

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

West Indies: Hayley Matthews (c), Chinelle Henry, Deandra Dottin, Stafanie Taylor, Afy Fletcher, Aaliyah Alleyne, Shemaine Campbelle, Ashmini Munisar, Karishma Ramharack, Jannillea Glasgow, Jahzara Claxton, Qiana Joseph, Zaida James, Mandy Mangru, Shawnisha Hector

Possible XIs

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

Phoebe Litchfield returned from a quad injury against India, while leg-spinner Alana King was the unlucky player to miss out and young quick Lucy Hamilton kept her spot in the XI.

Hamilton embracing World Cup ride as knockouts arrive

Australia will once again need to mull their best team balance and the make-up of their bowling attack to take on the Windies, and after Alana King's player-of-the-series antics against them in the Caribbean in March, she could force her way back in.

Grace Harris has also enjoyed great success playing county cricket for Surrey in the past and could bolster Australia's batting ranks on her one-time home deck.

West Indies: Hayley Matthews (c), Qiana Joseph, Shemaine Campbelle (wk), Stafanie Taylor, Deandra Dottin, Chinelle Henry, Jahzara Claxton, Jannillea Glasgow, Aaliyah Alleyne, Afy Fletcher, Ashmini Munisar

West Indies recalled opener Qiana Joseph for their final group game after dropping her earlier in the tournament. They have used 14 of their squad members so far, with a couple of injury concerns including the unspecified issue Chinelle Henry picked up when she had to be stretchered off in the warm-up against Australia, which saw her miss their tournament opener.

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Australia v West Indies World Cup history

Australia and West Indies have not met in a T20 World Cup game since the semi-finals of the 2018 tournament in the Caribbean, which the Aussies won by a whopping 71 runs.

Two years earlier, the Windies stunned Australia in the 2016 final at Eden Gardens in Kolkata to lift the trophy for the first time.

Players to watch

Ellyse Perry

Ellyse Perry is on a tear at this T20 World Cup. She's returned to full allrounder mode after rarely bowling in the shortest format in recent years and has taken four wickets.

Like a fine wine: Enjoyment driving Perry's best ever T20 World Cup

She's also Australia's leading run-scorer with 183 at 45.75 with a strike rate of 140.76, having hit back-to-back half-centuries.

Her leadership is also shining through as she supports skipper Sophie Molineux in her first tournament at the helm.

Hayley Matthews

It's impossible to go past the Windies skipper as the player the Aussies will be wary of, even if she is yet to reach her best with the bat this tournament. She was the key to the West Indies' famous T20 World Cup final win a decade ago and she remains the key to their success.

So far, she's hit 118 runs in five innings this World Cup with a top score of 48, while she's leading the way with the ball with her off-spin, having taken nine wickets at 13.55 with an economy rate of 6.10.

Fearless Windies have nothing to lose in semi-final: Matthews

Local knowledge

Australia have played just two T20I at The Oval previously, with the most recent a three-run defeat to England during the 2023 Ashes. Before that, their last visit to the ground was an eight-wicket loss to England in the semi-finals of the inaugural women's T20 World Cup in 2009.

The West Indies meanwhile have never played at The Oval.

So far only one match has been played at The Oval this tournament, with New Zealand scoring 6-163 only for England to chase it with nine wickets in hand and 16 balls to spare.

Form guide

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

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

Australia's tournament-record run chase against India at Lord's capped off a dominant group stage that saw them win all five of their matches comprehensively.

They started with a 65-run win over South Africa in Manchester, then moved to Leeds where they downed Bangladesh by nine wickets. A trip to Southampton yielded a 98-run win over the Netherlands, before they returned to Leeds to beat Pakistan by 113 runs.

West Indies: L L W W W NR L W W L

The West Indies started the tournament on a positive note with a crucial win over New Zealand, then carried on to beat Sri Lanka and Scotland.

Their unbeaten run came to an end against hosts England at Lord's before Ireland pulled off the upset of the tournament, defeating the Windies by six wickets to claim their first ever win at a Women's T20 World Cup, and leaving West Indies' semi-final hopes resting on the outcome of New Zealand's final match against England.

Rapid stats

Australia have won 17 of their 19 women's T20Is against West Indies including each of their last four; they have batted first on the day in each of those last four wins.
Australia have won five of their six ICC Women's T20 World Cup matches against West Indies including a 71-run victory when they last met in the tournament, in the 2018 semi-final. Their only defeat was an eight-wicket loss in the 2016 final at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
West Indies have lost their last two matches, the last and only time they lost more than two consecutive games in the tournament was a four-match span from 2020 to 2023. They've won only one of their six semi-finals, a six-run victory against New Zealand in 2016.
Australia lost their most recent T20 World Cup semi-final to South Africa in 2024, snapping a seven-match winning run in such fixtures; they will be looking to avoid consecutive semi-final defeats for the first time in the tournament.
West Indies have a bowling strike rate of 18 during the powerplay at the T20 World Cup 2026, the joint-best of any team (also South Africa – 18 and Ireland – 18); they have taken 10 wickets during this period, the joint-most of any side in the tournament (also South Africa – 10 and Ireland – 10).
Australia have a batting false shot rate of 24 per cent at this World Cup, the best of any team in the tournament while only Scotland (43 per cent) have a higher rate than West Indies (39 per cent). In addition, Australia have hit a boundary once every 4.5 balls faced – the most frequently of any team in the campaign.
Aaliyah Alleyne (West Indies) has a bowling strike rate of 4.8 during the death overs (17th-20th) at this World Cup, the second best of any player (minimum 2 overs bowled) during this period (Shree Charani – 3.4 for India); only Fatima Sana (8 for Pakistan) and Shree Charani (7 for India) have recorded more wickets in this category than Alleyne (4).
Ashleigh Gardner (Australia) has a batting dot ball rate of 21.2 per cent from 66 balls faced at this World Cup, the best of any player in the tournament (minimum 60 balls faced); she's scored 50-plus in two of her last three T20I innings (58, 0, 53no).
Hayley Matthews (9 in 2026) is one away from equalling Deandra Dottin (10 in 2018) and Afy Fletcher (10 in 2024) for the most wickets for West Indies in a single edition of the T20 World Cup. She's logged three T20I innings of three-plus wickets against Australia – one of only three players in the women's format to do so more than twice (Leigh Kasperek – 4 and Melie Kerr – 3).
Australia duo Georgia Wareham (4.2 from 11.4 overs) and Lucy Hamilton (4.4 from 9 overs) have the best bowling economy rates of any players at this ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 (minimum 3 overs bowled); only Pakistan's Ayesha Zafar (60 per cent from five overs) has logged a better bowling dot ball rate than Wareham (59 per cent) and Hamilton (57 per cent) amongst players to log at least three overs in the campaign.

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