Australia v Pakistan, World Cup: All you need to know

Match details

Who: Australia v Pakistan

What: ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, Match 9

When: October 8, 2025, 8:30pm AEDT first ball

Where: R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Officials: N Janani, Kerrin Klaaste (on field), Lauren Agenbag (TV umpire), Nimali Perera (fourth), Shandre Fritz (referee)

News and reactions post-play: cricket.com.au and the CA Live app

The squads

Australia: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

Australia were dealt a blow ahead of the tournament when X-factor allrounder Grace Harris was ruled out after suffering a calf strain in the third ODI against India. The Queenslander has been replaced by WA allrounder Heather Graham.

Sophie Molineux, meanwhile, made her international return after being included in Australia’s squad for their World Cup defence. Until Australia’s World Cup opener, Molineux hadn’t played an official game since knee surgery in January.

Five players were included in Australia’s 50-over World Cup squad for the first time, with Molineux joined by Georgia Wareham, Kim Garth, Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll.

Pakistan: Fatima Sana (c), Muneeba Ali Siddiqui (vc), Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Eyman Fatima, Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Omaima Sohail, Rameen Shamim, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz, Syeda Aroob Shah. Reserves: Gull Feroza, Najiha Alvi, Tuba Hassan, Umm-e-Hani, Waheeda Akhtar

Pakistan included a fresh face in their World Cup squad, naming uncapped batter Eyman Fatima, who recently made her T20I debut in Ireland. The 20-year-old batter was rewarded after impressing in Pakistan’s domestic T20 tournament in May.

Star allrounder Fatima Sana is leading the side, who are hoping to improve on their recent results at the 50-over World Cup after finishing on the bottom of the table at the past three events.

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Broadcast details

Cricket fans in Australia can watch the ongoing ICC Women’s ODI World Cup for free, with broadcaster Prime Video putting the tournament in front of its paywall.

All 31 matches of the eight-team event in India and Sri Lanka are available live, exclusive and free via Prime Video, and viewers will only be required to sign into a free Amazon account.

Australia will be aiming to win an unprecedented eighth 50-over World Cup title, and become the first women’s team to claim consecutive titles since 1988.

Click here to watch the tournament on Prime Video

Possible line-ups and team news

Australia: Alyssa Healy (c, wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Alana King, Kim Garth, Darcie Brown

Australia sprung a selection shock for the opening game against New Zealand, omitting veteran Megan Schutt in favour of Darcie Brown’s added pace.

With conditions in Colombo expected to differ from those in Indore, Schutt could return, or Australia could even consider a fourth spinner after Georgia Wareham was left out of the XI that played the White Ferns in favour of Sophie Molineux.

Pakistan: Muneeba Ali, Sadaf Shamas, Sidra Amin, Aliya Riaz, Natalia Pervaiz, Fatima Sana (capt), Rameen Shamim, Diana Baig, Sidra Nawaz (wk), Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal

Pakistan made change after the first game for their XI that played India, with Sadaf Shamas coming in for Omaima Sohail at the top of the order.

Things you want to know about the Aussie cricket team

Local knowledge

Head-to-head ODI stats

Overall: Australia 16 wins, Pakistan 0 wins

In Sri Lanka: No prior head-to-heads

In ODI World Cups: Australia 5 wins, Pakistan 0 wins

Past 10 years: Australia 8 wins, Pakistan 0 wins

Most runs (overall): Meg Lanning 438, Bismah Maroof 378, Alyssa Healy 307, Beth Mooney 279, Rachael Haynes 234

Most runs (in ODI World Cups): Bismah Maroof 145, Alyssa Healy 135, Ellyse Perry 104, Rachael Haynes 101, Elyse Villani 59

Most wickets (overall): Sana Mir 20, Jess Jonassen 15, Ashleigh Gardner 14, Sarah Coyte 14, Megan Schutt 10

Most wickets (in ODI World Cups): Ellyse Perry 5, Sadia Yousuf 5, Sana Mir 5, Asmavia Iqbal 3, Kristen Beams 3

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Form guide

Past 10 matches, most recent first. W: win, L: loss, N: no result

Australia: N W L W W W W W W W

Australia had a batting wobble, but a century to Ashleigh Gardner and a strong bowling effort secured an 89-run win over New Zealand in their World Cup opener. Their hopes of backing it up with victory over Sri Lanka were dashed by storms in Colombo, with their second game abandoned without a ball bowled.

‘I’m not normally that emotional’: Gardner explains raw reaction

Before that, Australia had the ideal preparation for the tournament, playing hosts India in a one-day series earlier this month in Chandigarh and Delhi. They romped victory by eight wickets first up, then were humbled by 102 runs – their largest ODI defeat – in the second. A high-scoring series decider saw Australia defend 412 to seal a 2-1 victory. Prior to that, Australia had not played a one-dayer since the 2024-25 summer, where they defeated India 3-0, New Zealand 2-0 and England 3-0 across December and January.

Pakistan: L L W L L W W W W W

Pakistan’s campaign has gotten off to a poor start with defeats to India and Bangladesh. They had India in a difficult position but ultimately allowed them to post a total close to 250, which they never looked like chasing, while their first game produced a dismal batting display against Bangladesh.

Pakistan had a solid pre-tournament series against South Africa last month, and steadily improved across the three matches – after losing the first by eight wickets, they came within 25 runs in a high-scoring second game before winning the third by six wickets.

Rapid stats

Australia have won all their 16 women’s ODIs against Pakistan; a 17th victory in this match would equal their most wins against a single opposition in the history of the format without losing (W17 vs Ireland).
Pakistan have won only one of their past five women’s ODIs, a six-wicket victory against South Africa last month.
Australia have won their past 10 ODI World Cup matches including an 89-run victory against New Zealand in their opening match of the 2025 campaign.
Pakistan have won only one of their past 23 ODI World Cup matches, an eight-wicket victory against West Indies at the 2022 event. They’ve lost each of their four games in the tournament since then.
Australia have scored 300-plus runs in each of their past two women’s ODI batting innings; they haven’t done so in more than two consecutive innings in the history of the format (also 2 in September 2019 and March-April 2022).
Pakistan have taken all 10 opposition wickets in five women’s ODI innings in 2025, including their last World Cup game against India in Colombo on Sunday.
Nashra Sandhu (105) is three away from equaling Nida Dar (108) for the second most wickets for Pakistan in women’s ODIs behind Sana Mir (151). She’s taken seven wickets at an average of 15 across her past three ODI innings after going wicketless in her two innings prior.
Alana King (Australia) has taken 14 wickets at a strike rate of 21.5 in women’s ODIs in 2025, the third best of any spin bowler (min. 10 wickets) for Australia in a calendar year in the history of the format behind only her own record in 2024 (19 wickets, 18.9 SR) and Shelley Nitschke in 2005 (24 wickets, 21.1 SR).
Sidra Amin (315) is 75 away from becoming the all-time leading run scorer for Pakistan in Women’s ODI World Cup history; she’s scored 541 runs at an average of 90.2 across her last eight ODI innings.
2025 Women’s ODI World Cup

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

Australia’s group stage matches

October 1: Australia beat New Zealand by 89 runs

October 4: v Sri Lanka: Abandoned without a ball bowled

October 8: v Pakistan, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 8:30pm AEDT

October 12: v India, ACA-VDCA Stadium Visakhapatnam, 8:30pm AEDT

October 16: v Bangladesh, ACA-VDCA Stadium Visakhapatnam, 8:30pm AEDT

October 22: v England, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8:30pm AEDT

October 25: v South Africa, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8:30pm AEDT

Finals

Semi-final 1: Guwahati or Colombo*, October 29, 8:30pm AEDT

Semi-final 2: Mumbai, October 30, 8:30pm AEDT

Final: Mumbai or Colombo*, November 2, 8:30pm AEDT