India Women started their Australia tour series on February 15, 2026, and they managed to take the lead after securing a win in the first T20I match by 21 runs. India won the match through the DLS method, as the match was cut short after five overs of the run chase due to persistent rain. Arundhati Reddy was the highlight of the match for her career-best 4/22.
Sophie Molineux, who made her captaincy debut for Australia Women in the opening T20I, saw her team bundle out for a modest 133. The top and middle-order batting line-up made a decent effort, but the lower order suffered. Batters like Georgia Voll (18 runs off 10), Phoebe Litchfield (26 off 19), Ellyse Perry (20 off 11), and Georgia Wareham (30 off 19) got the team to a decent end, but the bowlers from the Indian side had the upper hand.
Star bowler Arundhati took four wickets, N Sree Charani and Renuka Singh added two each, followed by Kranti Goud and Deepti Sharma, who took one respectively.
For India Women’s team, the batting was limited to five overs only. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led team had a good start in the first innings through their openers, Smriti Mandhana (not out at 16 runs off 17) and Shafali Verma (21 runs off 11 balls). After losing Shafali’s wicket to Australia Women’s captain Molineux’s bowling strike, Jemimah Rodrigues came in next to lead the team forward but was stopped at 9* off 3 as the rain curtailed and forced to stop the match midway leaving India’s innings at 50/1 in 5.1 overs.
With a 1-0 lead in the T20Is over Australia, the India Women’s team have their second match of the series scheduled on February 19 in Canberra. The Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 winning squad are coming in with a strong preparation ahead for the Women’s T20 World Cup set later this year.
India Women T20I Squad for Australia Series
Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (WK), Uma Chetry (WK), Arundhati Reddy, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Bharti Fulmali, Shreyanka Patil
Australia Women T20I squad
Sophie Molineux (C), Ashleigh Gardner (VC), Tahlia McGrath (VC), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
