ENG-W vs AUS-W, Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 warm-up: Ellyse Perry guides Australia to victory against England

The Australian cricket team eased past hosts England by five wickets in their Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 warm-up match at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Monday.

World No. 2 England recovered from a rocky start to post 157/6 on the board with Alice Capsey and Freya Kemp contributing with vital knocks.

Australia, the top team in the ICC T20I rankings, made light work of the chase with Ellyse Perry scoring 64 off just 44 balls.

Sent in to bat first, England found themselves in all sorts of trouble early on as they lost their top three inside the opening five overs and a paltry 19 on the board.

Amy Jones was caught by Tahila McGrath off Megan Schutt before Kim Garth and Alana King cleaned up Danni Wyatt-Hodge and England skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt, respectively.

Alice Capsey then led a fightback for the hosts as she first put together an invaluable 54-run stand with Heather Knight and then added a 25-run partnership with Freya Kemp before she was dismissed by Schutt for a well-made 45 off 36 balls.

Another brisk 51-run stand between Kemp, who scored a 27-ball 41, and Dani Gibson (27 off 16) saw world No. 2 England post a respectable total of 157/6 on the board in 20 overs.

Schutt and King both took two wickets each for world No. 1 Australia.

Australia knocked off off 51 from the chase before suffering their first loss - Georgia Voll for 17 - at the hands of Lauren Filer.

Beth Mooney, who had taken the English attack on, too, departed a couple of overs later for 43 off 26 - an attacking knock concluding with Capsey knocking over her stumps.

Following the two quick blows, Ellyse Perry took up the responsibility and anchored the chase, scoring a half-century to guide her team to victory. Perry fell to Lauren Bell with Australia just one run short of the target and 11 balls in hand.

The England women's cricket team will face India in their next T20 World Cup warm-up fixture on Wednesday. Australia will also play the West Indies on the same day. Live cricket scores will be available on Olympics.com.

Inaugural champions England will face Sri Lanka in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 opener in Birmingham on June 12 while record six-time winners Australia start their campaign against South Africa at Old Trafford in Manchester the next day.

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