West Indies women’s cricket team face an uphill task in making it to their 2nd ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final as they take on Australia Women in the semi-final 1 on Tuesday. Sophie Monileux and co. have remained unbeaten in the tournament so far, mowing down majority of opposition with ease and finishing the group stage on a high note. WIW’s bid to reach their second T20 WC final is no easy task, especially since they have beaten AUS-W only twice in T20Is so far.
Unpredictable West Indies take on unstoppable Australia
Australia and West Indies have squared off against each other 19 times so far in T20Is. The Aussies have emerged victorious 17 times while the Windies have defeated them only twice, including in the 2016 World Cup final to be crowned champions for the first time. However, since 2018, WIW have never beaten Australia in T20Is (both in bilateral series and in T20 World Cups). In fact, when the two sides last met in March 2026, Australia completed a clinical 3-0 sweep in the three-match series against the Windies.
Moreover, the Hayley Matthews-led West Indies unit comprises of a majority of young cricketers who will be up against a seasoned Australian unit comprising the likes of Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney, Sophie Monileux among others. WIW also enter the semi-final with a two-match losing streak, having lost their last two group stage matches against England and Ireland. West Indies captain Hayley Matthews has claimed that the side has nothing to lose and has vowed to put up a fearless performance against the 6-time champions. Indeed, the Windies need to put up such a performance in order to fancy a chance of taking down a star-studded Australian line-up that is firing all cylinders in perfect sync in this tournament.
“Coming up against Australia, we have nothing to lose, and that puts us in a position where we can be quite fearless going out there,” the West Indies captain said ahead of the semi-final.
| Opposition | Result |
|---|---|
| NZW | Won by 7 wickets |
| SCOW | Won by 7 runs |
| SLW | Won by 5 wickets |
| ENGW | Lost by 38 runs |
| IREW | Lost by 6 wickets |
Australia, on the other hand, have been a force to reckon with in the T20 WC 2026. Sophie Monileux and co. started their campaign by handing SAW a 65-run thrashing. That was followed by a 9-wicket win against BANW, a 98-run win against NEDW, a 113-run win against PAKW and a 6-wicket win against INDW. They now are eyeing to take one step closer to their 7th title and will be hoping to continue dominating the West Indies in the shortest format of the game.
| Team (vs) | Result |
|---|---|
| RSAW | Won by 65 runs |
| BANW | Won by 9 wickets |
| NEDW | Won by 98 runs |
| PAKW | Won by 113 runs |
| INDW | Won by 6 wickets |
However, despite their stellar run, Australia Women will not be taking West Indies lightly. Ahead of the contest, Ashleigh Gardner pointed out that the WI side surely posed a threat to the Aussies as they possessed a lot of firepower, noting that the experienced Deandra Dottin in particular was a threat in all three phases of the game.
“They’ve got a lot of class and a lot of firepower within their team. Also a lot of experience…you look at someone like Deandra Dottin, she’s a threat in all three phases of the game. She’s a fantastic player. I’ve had the privilege of playing with her, and just seeing how she goes about her cricket, she’s so fearless in the way that she approaches it, which sometimes can be quite scary because she can flick a switch pretty quickly…they’ve got that rawness within their side. They definitely pose a different threat,” Gardner said.
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