Australia leads 26-8 in T20Is. That’s the scoreline. And for most of this rivalry, those numbers made sense.
But cricket changes. And what’s happened between these 2 teams in the last 6 years, from Poonam Yadav spinning out Australia in Sydney to Smriti Mandhana’s 82 off 55 balls in Adelaide, tells a very different story from the one the overall record suggests.
India Women vs Australia Women Timeline T20I head-to-head record
| Statistic | India Women | Australia Women |
|---|---|---|
| Matches Played | 35 | 35 |
| Wins | 8 | 27 |
| Losses | 27 | 8 |
| No Result | 0 | 0 |
| Highest Team Score | 187/5 | 209/4 |
| Lowest Team Score | 73 | 114 |
| Biggest Victory (by Runs) | 48 Runs | 86 Runs |
| First T20I Meeting | 2008 | 2008 |
| Most Recent T20I Series Winner | Australia Women | Australia Women |
Overall T20I statistics
Through the 2026 Australia T20I series, these 2 teams have met 38 times in T20Is. Australia dominate the head-to-head with 26 wins, India have won 8, with 1 match ending in a tie and 1 without a result.
Australia win percentage sits above 74%. India’s is just under 22%.
Those numbers look one-sided. They are. But they compress 18 years of cricket into a single column, and what that column can’t show you is how much the gap has changed.
Home vs away T20I record
When these teams meet in Australia, India have historically struggled. Better bounce, flatter pitches, more pace-friendly conditions, and a home crowd that gets loud behind every boundary. Australia have turned their home grounds into fortresses in women’s T20Is.
In India, the story flips. Slower surfaces suit India’s spinning attack. Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav operate in conditions they know from domestic cricket. India have beaten Australia in India with a consistency that the overall numbers can’t reflect.
Neutral venues (ICC tournaments in South Africa, UAE, West Indies) have been the most competitive ground for this rivalry, where conditions don’t favour either side and results come down to which team handles pressure better on the day.
Timeline of India Women vs Australia Women T20I matches
Early encounters (2008–2010)
The first T20I between these sides was played on October 28, 2008, at Hurstville Oval in Sydney. Australia batted first and made 142/4 in 20 overs, with Karen Rolton scoring 44 not out. India came close but fell 2 runs short at 140/4, with Mithali Raj scoring an unbeaten 51.
2 runs. The margin of the first meeting. Both teams played out a genuine contest from the very start.
Australia won that match, as they’d win most of them in the early years. The format was new, women’s bilateral T20 cricket barely existed at an international level, and Australia had the better batting firepower. India’s bowling was competitive. Their batting, without any T20 specialist structure behind it, was not.
The results from 2008 to 2010 followed a predictable pattern: Australia comfortable, India getting closer in patches without breaking through.
Growing competition (2011–2016)
The BCCI formally absorbed women’s cricket under its wing in 2006. The results of that investment started showing around 2011. More exposure to international cricket, better facilities, and a generation of players who’d grown up watching the game change on TV.
India’s T20 cricket got sharper. Harmanpreet Kaur arrived as a player who could hit boundaries anywhere on the ground. Smriti Mandhana came through with technique that worked in every format. The Women’s IPL hadn’t happened yet, but the domestic structure was improving.
March 23, 2012, Visakhapatnam. This is the day India beat Australia in a T20I for the first time. Jhulan Goswami produced a spell of 5/11 to bowl Australia out for 89. India chased the target with 8 wickets to spare. That’s still India’s best T20I bowling figures.
The 2012-2016 period brought more competitive matches. India were still losing more than they won, but they weren’t getting blown away. Individual brilliance, usually from Harmanpreet or the bowling attack, was creating results.
India’s 2015-16 bilateral T20 series win in Australia, the first of only 2, came in this period. Then the 2026 series win made it 2. Both wins came on Australian soil.
Historic matches in ICC tournaments
2018 ICC Women’s World T20
The 2018 Women’s World Twenty20 in the West Indies was a significant tournament for India’s T20 credentials. Mithali Raj stepped away from T20I cricket around this period and the team had to build around Harmanpreet Kaur as T20 captain.
India and Australia met at the tournament, with Australia winning but India competitive enough to make it clear they belonged at the sharp end of a World Cup. The tournament reinforced the perception that these sides were the most watchable matchup in women’s T20 cricket.
2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup
This tournament produced the 2 best India vs Australia T20I performances in the rivalry’s history. On the same day, 3 weeks apart, in the same country.
February 21, 2020, Sydney Showgrounds. Opening match of the tournament. Riding on Poonam Yadav’s sublime control and wrong’uns, India toppled defending champions Australia by 17 runs in front of 13,432 spectators, a record for a standalone women’s match in Australia at the time.
India scored 132/4, with Deepti Sharma’s 49 not out steadying the innings after 3 wickets fell for 6 runs. Yadav then entered the attack and changed everything. Australia needed 75 off 66 balls with 8 wickets in hand when Yadav came on. By the time she finished, the equation was 28 from 12 with 3 in hand: game over. Poonam Yadav finished with 4/19 from 4 overs.
India went through the tournament unbeaten. Then came the final.
March 8, 2020, Melbourne Cricket Ground. International Women’s Day. Australia won the toss and elected to bat. The opening pairing of Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney put on a century partnership of 115 runs before Healy was dismissed for 75 off 39 balls. Mooney remained unbeaten on 78 off 54. Australia posted 184/4.
India lost 4 wickets inside the powerplay overs and never recovered, bowled out for 99 in 19.1 overs. Megan Schutt led Australia’s bowlers with 4 wickets. Australia won by 85 runs.
The attendance was 86,174. The largest crowd ever to watch a women’s cricket match. Larger than the 2016 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Final at Eden Gardens. A record that still stands.
That number changed how people talked about women’s cricket. Boards, broadcasters, sponsors. The MCG final is the moment the sport’s commercial argument got made for good.
2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final
Cape Town. February 23, 2023. One of the closest India vs Australia T20Is ever.
Australia posted 172/4. India’s chase went deep: 167/8. Australia won by 5 runs.
The margin tells you nothing about what it felt like. India needed 15 off the last over with wickets in hand. Harmanpreet Kaur was run out in the chase, which she later described as “we can’t be unluckier than this.” Ash Gardner was the Player of the Match for her all-round show with 31 runs and 2 wickets, and described her heart rate during the last over as “about 190.”
India lost by 5. The 2023 semi-final is the clearest evidence that the gap in this rivalry is no longer comfortable for Australia.
Recent India Women vs Australia Women T20I series
2026 India tour of Australia T20I series
3 matches across Sydney, Canberra, and Adelaide. India won the series 2-1. Their first bilateral T20I series win in Australia in 10 years.
1st T20I, Sydney, February 15: Arundhati Reddy picked up a wicket in each of her 4 overs to finish with career-best 4/22. India bowled Australia out for 133 in 18 overs. Rain arrived during the chase with India at 50/1 in 5.1 overs, well ahead of the DLS par score. India won by 21 runs via DLS.
2nd T20I, Canberra, February 19: Georgia Voll struck 88 off 57 balls, anchoring a 128-run opening stand with Beth Mooney. Australia made 163/5. India needed 44 off 24 with 7 wickets in hand but lost 6 wickets for 24 runs in the last 4 overs, finishing at 144/9. Australia won by 19 runs. Ashleigh Gardner took 3/22.
3rd T20I, Adelaide, February 21: India batted first and posted 176/6. Smriti Mandhana scored 82 off 55 balls, sharing a 121-run stand with Jemimah Rodrigues (59 off 46). Australia were restricted to 159/9, with Shreyanka Patil and Shree Charani taking 3 wickets each. India won by 17 runs.
India last beat Australia in a women’s T20 series in 2016. This was only their second bilateral T20I series win over Australia, and notably both came on Australian soil.
Best matches in India Women vs Australia Women T20I timeline
Closest T20I matches
2023 World Cup semi-final, Cape Town: Australia 172/4, India 167/8. Australia won by 5 runs. Harmanpreet run out in the chase. 15 needed off the last over.
2008, Sydney: Australia 142/4, India 140/4. Australia won by 2 runs. Mithali Raj’s 51 not out nearly pulled it off. The first T20I between the sides.
2024 T20 World Cup, Sharjah: The last time India met Australia in a T20 match before 2026 was at the T20 World Cup 2024, when they lost by 9 runs.
Biggest wins in the rivalry
2020 T20 World Cup Final, MCG: Australia beat India by 85 runs. Healy (75) and Mooney (78 not out) made 184 feel like 250.
2012, Visakhapatnam: India beat Australia by 8 wickets. Goswami’s 5/11 bowled Australia out for 89. India chased 90 in 11 overs.
Top batting performers in IND-W vs AUS-W T20Is
Most runs and highest scores
| Player | Team | Matches | Runs | Highest Score | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beth Mooney | Australia Women | 22 | 620+ | 89* | 45+ |
| Harmanpreet Kaur | India Women | 30 | 590+ | 79* | 27+ |
| Alyssa Healy | Australia Women | 27 | 540+ | 77 | 24+ |
| Smriti Mandhana | India Women | 28 | 520+ | 79* | 22+ |
| Meg Lanning | Australia Women | 20 | 500+ | 97* | 35+ |
| Ellyse Perry | Australia Women | 24 | 430+ | 75 | 30+ |
| Jemimah Rodrigues | India Women | 18 | 360+ | 49 | 24+ |
| Deepti Sharma | India Women | 25 | 300+ | 49* | 18+ |
| Tahlia McGrath | Australia Women | 14 | 290+ | 70* | 32+ |
| Shafali Verma | India Women | 16 | 280+ | 52 | 17+ |
Alyssa Healy holds the highest individual score in the rivalry: 142. Beth Mooney is second with 138. For India, Smriti Mandhana’s 125 and Jemimah Rodrigues’ 127 feature in the top scores.
Beth Mooney leads overall run-scorers in the rivalry, with Ellyse Perry third for Australia. Jemimah Rodrigues (716 runs) leads India’s scorers in the direct head-to-head.
Mandhana and Shafali Verma have shared 25 opening stands of 50 or more together in T20Is, making them the most productive opening partnership in women’s T20Is globally. They’re the only pair to have shared 4 fifty-plus stands specifically against Australia.
Harmanpreet Kaur’s contribution to this rivalry goes beyond numbers. Her 2020 World Cup Final appearance in front of 86,000 people at the MCG, captaining India in the biggest T20I ever played, cemented her place in the sport’s history regardless of the result.
Top bowling performers in IND-W vs AUS-W T20Is
Most wickets and best figures
| Player | Team | Matches | Wickets | Best Bowling Figures | Economy Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellyse Perry | Australia Women | 24 | 32 | 4/12 | 5.90 |
| Megan Schutt | Australia Women | 22 | 30 | 3/18 | 6.10 |
| Jess Jonassen | Australia Women | 20 | 24 | 4/22 | 6.25 |
| Deepti Sharma | India Women | 25 | 22 | 3/24 | 6.45 |
| Ashleigh Gardner | Australia Women | 18 | 20 | 3/16 | 6.50 |
| Renuka Singh | India Women | 12 | 18 | 4/18 | 7.05 |
| Poonam Yadav | India Women | 17 | 17 | 4/19 | 6.30 |
| Sophie Molineux | Australia Women | 10 | 15 | 3/20 | 6.70 |
| Shikha Pandey | India Women | 19 | 14 | 3/14 | 6.85 |
| Radha Yadav | India Women | 14 | 13 | 2/18 | 6.95 |
Ashleigh Gardner leads all wicket-takers in the rivalry with 39 wickets. For India, Deepti Sharma is the leading wicket-taker across all formats against Australia.
Best T20I bowling figure in the rivalry: Jhulan Goswami’s 5/11 in Visakhapatnam in 2012. It’s also India’s best T20I bowling figure against any opponent. She bowled Australia out for 89 in 20 overs on a flat pitch in conditions that offered nothing.
Megan Schutt’s 4/18 in the 2020 MCG final is the best return by an Australian bowler against India in a T20I match. Those 4 wickets broke India’s back when they needed 185 to win.
Arundhati Reddy’s 4/22 in Sydney in February 2026 is the newest entry on that list, and the most consequential in recent years. It set India’s series victory in motion.
Match-winning bowling spells
Poonam Yadav’s 4/19 in the 2020 World Cup opener is the performance that most changed how people thought about India’s T20 bowling. She came on with Australia needing 75 from 66 balls and 8 wickets. She turned the game in 3 overs. That’s the kind of bowling that wins tournaments.
Iconic players in the rivalry
Indian women cricketers
Harmanpreet Kaur has been India’s T20 captain through their most consequential years against Australia. During the 2026 Canberra T20I, Harmanpreet became the most capped player in all women’s international formats combined: 356 appearances across Tests, ODIs and T20Is. She’s the player Australia have had to plan around for a decade.
Smriti Mandhana is the most technically complete batter either side has produced. The 82 off 55 balls in Adelaide in 2026 set a record as the highest T20I total at Adelaide Oval in women’s cricket. Her opening partnership with Shafali Verma has produced 25 fifty-plus stands in T20Is, more than any other opening pair in the format.
Jemimah Rodrigues is the current form player in this rivalry. Her 2023 World Cup semi-final chase of 39 off 28 balls nearly got India home. Her 2025 ODI World Cup 127 not out killed Australia’s 15-match World Cup winning streak. She’s the player Australia fear most in a run-chase.
Deepti Sharma is India’s most reliable bowling option against Australia. She leads India’s all-time wicket-takers against Australia across all formats. At the 2020 MCG final, she was India’s best bowler with 2 wickets. In the 2026 series, she was India’s steadying presence in spin conditions.
Australian women cricketers
Ellyse Perry spans the entire modern era of this rivalry. She took wickets in 2012 when India were figuring out T20 cricket. She scored 77 in the 2025 World Cup semi-final. She’s played in 3 different decades against India and remained relevant through all of them.
Alyssa Healy owns the highest individual score in the T20I head-to-head: 142. Her 75 off 39 balls in the 2020 MCG final was the innings that made 184 inevitable. Her career reads 3,777 runs at 37.02 and a strike rate of 101, and among batters who score faster than a run a ball, nobody else has even 2,500 runs. She retired from ODIs and Tests after the 2026 India tour.
Beth Mooney surpassed Meg Lanning to become Australia’s highest run-scorer in T20Is (3,432 runs from 108 innings) during the Canberra 2026 match against India. Her 78 not out in the 2020 final set the record for the highest individual score in a Women’s T20 World Cup Final at that time.
Ashleigh Gardner is the most damaging all-rounder in this rivalry. She leads all wicket-takers in the T20I head-to-head with 39 wickets. Her 3/22 in Canberra 2026, when India looked on course to win the series 2-0, is a recent example of how she decides matches.
India Women vs Australia Women T20I records
Highest team total: Australia’s MCG final total of 184/4 in 2020 sits among the highest either team has posted against the other in T20Is.
Best bowling figures in the rivalry: Jhulan Goswami, 5/11, Visakhapatnam, 2012.
Highest partnership for Australia vs India in T20Is: 128 runs by Georgia Voll and Beth Mooney in Canberra 2026, breaking the previous record of 115 by Healy and Mooney at the MCG in the 2020 final.
Largest crowd: 86,174 at the MCG on March 8, 2020. The biggest crowd in women’s cricket history. Still the record 6 years later.
Lowest T20I total in the rivalry: Australia’s 89 in Visakhapatnam in 2012. Goswami’s 5/11 dismantled them inside 20 overs.
How the rivalry changed women’s T20 cricket
Growth of women’s cricket in India
The BCCI took over women’s cricket in 2006. What followed was slow at first, then accelerating. Match fees, contracts, the Women’s Premier League in 2023. By 2026, India’s women play in front of sold-out stadiums during home series.
The T20 format was a particular accelerant. India’s batting depth in the shortest format improved dramatically once players had regular franchise cricket to sharpen them. Mandhana, Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh: all came through a system that now produces T20 specialists, not just cricketers adapting to the format.
Australia’s influence on modern T20 cricket
Australia didn’t just win T20 World Cups. They built the template. Explosive opening batting (Healy), a middle order that compounds, and a bowling attack that executes plans under pressure. Every country studying women’s T20 cricket over the last decade has been studying Australia.
India studied them too. The 2026 series win came partly because India’s powerplay bowling now replicates the Australian model: early pace, specific plans for each batter, death bowling with clear roles. Arundhati Reddy’s 4/22 in Sydney was an Australian-style new-ball spell. India learning from Australia, then beating them with it.
Rise in fan following and media attention
The 86,174 crowd at the MCG in 2020 broke the previous record for a women’s sporting event in Australia (53,034 at the 2019 AFLW Grand Final) and was also the largest in women’s world cricket.
That single number moved things. JioHotstar streaming deals, Star Sports broadcast commitments, Women’s T20 World Cup scheduling in prime-time slots. The India vs Australia matchup is the fixture women’s cricket builds its commercial case around.
Future of India Women vs Australia Women T20I rivalry
2026 Women’s T20 World Cup and beyond
Both teams are headed to England for the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. The 2026 series between India and Australia was used as key preparation for the tournament. India arrive ranked 3rd, Australia ranked 1st.
A semi-final rematch is possible. Given how close the 2023 one was, and given India’s 2026 form, the next time these sides meet in a World Cup knockout it won’t feel like an upset if India win.
Young players to watch
Georgia Voll (Australia): 23 years old and already producing match-defining performances. Her 88 in Canberra was a senior-level innings: anchor the powerplay, accelerate in the middle, don’t give your wicket away. She and Phoebe Litchfield form the scariest young top order in women’s T20 cricket.
Shreyanka Patil (India): Her 3-wicket haul in Adelaide 2026 in a series decider was a coming-of-age performance. Off-spin that actually turns, bowled with aggression, not just containment.
Shree Charani (India): Another 3-wicket haul in Adelaide alongside Patil. 2 young spinners taking the match on in Australia. That’s the future of India’s T20 bowling.
What comes next
Australia have won 5 T20 World Cups. India have won 1, in the ODI format. The T20 trophy is the one India want badly.
The 2026 tour result suggests India can now win bilateral T20 series in Australia. The next step is converting that into ICC tournament wins against Australia in knockout cricket. The 2023 semi-final missed by 5 runs. The 2020 final was never close.
India will win that match eventually. The rivalry has reached the point where Australia can no longer assume a comfortable result. Every series, every tournament meeting, every rain-adjusted DLS equation is a genuine contest.
That’s what 18 years of improvement looks like.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who has won more T20I matches between India Women and Australia Women?
Australia have won more, with 26 victories compared to India’s 8 from 38 matches. The tie and no-result account for 2 additional games. Australia’s win percentage sits around 74%.
What was the highest score in IND-W vs AUS-W T20Is?
Australia’s 184/4 in the 2020 T20 World Cup Final at Melbourne is the highest total. Alyssa Healy’s 75 and Beth Mooney’s unbeaten 78 built that total. India’s highest T20I total against Australia is around 176/6, posted in the 2026 Adelaide T20I.
Which player has scored the most runs in the rivalry?
Beth Mooney leads the run-scoring across all matches between the sides, with Alyssa Healy holding the highest individual score of 142. For India, Jemimah Rodrigues and Smriti Mandhana are the most prolific T20I scorers against Australia.
What is the most memorable IND-W vs AUS-W T20I match?
The 2020 T20 World Cup Final. 86,174 people at the MCG. International Women’s Day. Australia 184, India 99. It was painful for India, but the event around it, the crowd, the global broadcast, the Katy Perry concert, changed what people believed women’s cricket could be.
When did India Women first beat Australia Women in T20Is?
India’s first T20I win over Australia came on March 23, 2012, at Visakhapatnam. Jhulan Goswami bowled Australia out for 89 with figures of 5/11, India’s best T20I bowling figures, and the target was chased with 8 wickets in hand.
The India national cricket team women vs Australia national cricket team women T20I story still has Australia ahead on points. But 8 wins from 38 matches doesn’t feel like the same rivalry it was in 2008 when they first met and India fell 2 runs short. The scorecard evolves. And so does the team reading it.
