Steve Barrett
June 18, 2026 — 7:53am
Ellyse Perry made an ominous return to the bowling crease to pilot Australia to a nine-wicket trouncing of Bangladesh in the women’s T20 World Cup, all but sealing a semi-final berth.
Perry picked up two wickets in her first five balls and finished with 2-14 from three overs as the Tigers were restricted to a paltry 8-77 from their 20 overs after the Australians won the toss and elected to bowl at Leeds on Wednesday.
Ellyse Perry (centre) celebrates with captain Sophie Molineux (right) and Alana King after taking a wicket against Bangladesh. Getty Images Australia capitalised on a favourable, green-tinged Headingley pitch, before strolling past the target with 63 deliveries to spare, making 1-78.
Perry wasn’t among the six bowlers used in Australia’s tournament opener against South Africa and had sent down only 14 overs in 36 matches since the last World Cup.
Australia’s greatest all-rounder looked comfortable and dangerous with ball in hand.
“Any opportunity to contribute, I really enjoy doing that with this group,” Perry said.
“I’ve been chipping away with my bowling. I love doing it – it keeps me interested at training to have a trundle. To have an opportunity today was really enjoyable.”
Georgia Voll (45 not out off 32 balls) hit six fours and a six, while player-of-the-match Perry (19 not out) capped a fine all-round performance by hitting the winning runs.
Australia were forced to make two changes from the team that beat South Africa in the opening game, with Megan Schutt and Grace Harris coming in for Phoebe Litchfield and Ash Gardner.
Litchfield failed a fitness test on the morning of the game after suffering a quad injury while batting against the Proteas, while Gardner was unavailable with a sprained ankle.
Georgia Voll smashed boundaries in her innings in the win over Bangladesh. Getty Images The only blemish in Australia’s clinical reply was the loss of Beth Mooney (10), who fell to an excellent catch by Ritu Moni at mid-off.
Earlier, captain Sophie Molineux (2-14), Perry (2-14), Kim Garth (2-18) and Annabel Sutherland (1-8 off three overs) blanketed the Tigers, who hit just six boundaries and no sixes.
In challenging batting conditions, Bangladesh were reduced to 5-27 in the eighth over, before skipper Nigar Sultana (27) and Ritu (16) – the only two to reach double figures – put on 32 for the sixth wicket to provide some respectability.
Their gritty partnership ended when Ritu lofted Georgia Wareham to Georgia Voll at midwicket, before Molineux trapped opposite number Nigar lbw.
Australia play the Netherlands at Southampton’s Rose Bowl on Saturday evening (AEST).
Zampa’s milestone in T20 win over Bangladesh
Adam Zampa and debutant Joel Davies have spun Australia to a four-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first T20 of their three-match series.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Bangladesh were bundled out for an under-par 131 in 19 overs, which the Australians moved past with 10 deliveries to spare at Chattogram on Wednesday to take a 1-0 series lead.
Cooper Connolly, the hero of Australia’s ODI victory in Dhaka on Sunday , continued his form surge, top-scoring with 47 in an otherwise unconvincing chase from the tourists.
Australia’s Adam Zampa (left) celebrates the wicket of Bangladesh’s Shoriful Islam. AP “Coops has had a taste of international cricket over the last 12 months and he’s only going to continue to grow and get better the more comfortable he feels,” said Australian captain Mitch Marsh, who missed the 2-1 ODI series loss with an ankle injury.
“It was great to see him bat like that on a reasonably tricky batting wicket. It’s always nice to start a series with a win.”
The Tigers made a fast start before recklessly submitting to Australia’s slow bowlers, nine of the 10 wickets falling to spin.
Bowling all-rounder Mahedi Hasan (29 not out), opener Saif Hassan (20) and No.3 Soumya Sarkar (17) were the only Bangladesh batters to pass 10.
Left-arm orthodox tweaker Davies (3-17) and leg-spinner Adam Zampa (3-18) were the chief destroyers.
Nikhil Chaudhary, Australia’s other debutant, claimed 1-14 and took two catches, the first one a superb diving effort off Zampa at deep cover to dismiss Soumya.
Davies removed wicketkeeper Parvez Hossain Emon (10) with just his second international delivery, before Zampa became the first Australian to take 150 wickets in men’s T20s when Shoriful Islam picked out Tim David.
“It feels good – it means I’ve been around for a long time,” Zampa said of his milestone. “Obviously a proud achievement, especially in a game like this.
“We’ve had a tough time of it in the ODIs and to have a couple of young guys come in, Joel Davies and Nikhil Chaudhary, feel like they’re at home in the team and look like they’re a part of it, it feels good.”
In reply, Josh Inglis (five) and returning captain Mitch Marsh (13) departed early in the chase, before Connolly steadied the ship.
The 23-year-old left-hander struck three si…
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