Australia powered to 219 for 9 and a 98-run win over Netherlands at Southampton in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, producing the joint-highest total in tournament history but finishing the match with a fresh injury concern after Beth Mooney retired hurt with back stiffness.
Mooney’s 74 from 42 balls set the platform for Australia’s record-equalling score, with Ashleigh Gardner striking 58 from 32 on her return from injury and Georgia Wareham adding a rapid 41 from 18. Netherlands replied with 121 for 3, led by captain Babette de Leede’s unbeaten 56 from 57 and Sterre Kalis’ 44, but the chase never threatened as the required rate climbed quickly after early wickets.
The result moved Australia a step closer to a semi-final place, with two Group 1 matches still to come against Pakistan and India.
Australia’s record total, and a key concern for the XI
Australia’s innings began at speed without early risk. Mooney and Georgia Voll raced to 50 in 4.3 overs, with Mooney largely farming the strike and punishing loose deliveries. Voll, attempting to clear the infield, fell trying to hit Iris Zwilling over long-on and skewing a catch to backward point.
Ellyse Perry, playing her 50th Women’s T20 World Cup match, departed three balls later in unusual fashion, hitting a long-hop from Heather Siegers straight to the lone boundary rider on the leg side at deep midwicket. Gardner then ensured Australia’s momentum continued, lofting cleanly over mid-off and finding inventive scoring options when the field shifted.
Netherlands had a major chance to slow the surge when Gardner spooned Frederique Overdijk to backward point, but Phebe Molkenboer spilled the first of two sitters in the innings. The missed opportunity proved costly as Gardner reached her fifty from 28 balls after Mooney had brought up her own half-century from 30, with Australia’s total rapidly moving towards record territory.
The defining moment of the innings came in the 14th over. With Mooney closing in on a century—26 runs away—she felt her back tighten while running on the final ball of the over and walked straight off for assessment, retiring hurt on 74. While the issue was understood not to be serious and the retirement appeared precautionary, it created an immediate knock-on effect for Australia in the field: Mooney was unable to keep wicket as the only specialist wicketkeeper in the squad, and with Phoebe Litchfield also injured, Voll had to take the gloves for the first time in her professional T20 career.
Two balls after Mooney left the field, Gardner’s innings ended when she picked out deep midwicket in the same manner as Perry, briefly checking Australia’s acceleration. Wareham, however, seized control late, striking eight boundaries in her 18-ball stay. She enjoyed a slice of fortune with two outside edges off Isabel van der Woning running away to the deep third boundary, but her clean hitting and range—going inside-out over cover and stepping across to pull—restored the innings’ top gear.
Australia’s lower order found the rope only twice in a combined 15 balls from Nicola Carey, Annabel Sutherland, Sophie Molineux and Alana King, but the damage was already done. Zwilling finished with three wickets in the innings, including Wareham and Molineux, as Australia closed on 219 for 9.
Garth’s early burst sets up a comfortable chase defence
Kim Garth delivered the key early blows to remove any doubt, continuing her strong form with the new ball. In the second over, a textbook outswinger found Molkenboer’s outside edge. Soon after, Garth trapped Siegers lbw with an inducker; Siegers reviewed but could not overturn the decision, having earlier survived an umpire’s call against Molineux. Garth’s powerplay spell left Netherlands 28 for 2 after six overs, with the chase already drifting away.
De Leede, playing her 100th T20I, and Kalis showed resolve and provided Netherlands with their best passage of the match. Kalis struck the Netherlands’ first six of the tournament, launching King over mid-off, and the pair added 96 together—equal fourth-highest partnership against Australia in Women’s T20 World Cup history. Australia’s bowlers stayed tidy, but they managed only three wickets and spilled two difficult chances, including two drops of Kalis: first by King off Sutherland at mid-on, and later by Sutherland off Lucy Hamilton in the same region.
De Leede reached her fifty from 47 balls, while Kalis fell in the final over attempting to clear the rope for her own half-century. Netherlands finished on 121 for 3, with Australia’s record-setting batting and Garth’s early strike proving decisive despite the late concern around Mooney’s back.