Juairiya Ferdous made a major statement on T20 World Cup debut, now she’s got the world’s top team in her sights
Bangladesh young gun Juairiya Ferdous has vowed to continue her aggressive approach against Australia, as the Tigresses look to make history against their highly favoured opponents.
Ferdous, who only made her international debut five months ago, stole the show in Bangladesh’s tournament opener against the Netherlands on Sunday.
If the occasion at Edgbaston was playing on the 20-year-old opening batter’s nerves, it did not show as she dominated the Powerplay, riding her luck on her way to a 32-ball fifty that featured seven fours and two sixes.
It was her second half-century from 15 T20I innings since making her debut in January.
Taking on Australia at Headingley on Wednesday will be an entirely different prospect for Ferdous, who declared she would not change her approach against the world’s top-ranked team.
“Australia is a very strong team, so it will be a big challenge for us to perform well and try to win,” Ferdous said.
“Our target will definitely be to win the match.
“Personally, I feel that the approach I had (against the Netherlands) was good, especially the intent to score more runs off fewer balls.
“Against Australia, I will try to maintain the same approach.
“My focus will be on making the best use of the powerplay and playing a big innings.
“(Playing Australia) feels really special because I have always watched them on television, but I had never seen them in person before.”
Ferdous is one of a number of new faces in the Bangladesh squad since Australia last played them in early 2024.
Both teams will be adjusting to the Leeds conditions on the fly, with neither having played a white-ball game at the ground before.
However, the majority of the Australian players will have experience from The Hundred to lean on, including Annabel Sutherland, Phoebe Litchfield, Georgia Wareham and Nicola Carey, who have all called Headingley home with the Leeds-based Northern Superchargers.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, are touring the United Kingdom for the first time.
Looking ahead to the game on Monday, Sutherland said she was expecting conditions to be more batter friendly than those Australia experienced at Old Trafford in their tournament opener.
She said Australia were also expecting to face a barrage of spin bowling from Bangladesh, in contrast to South Africa’s pace-heavy attack.
“They’ve got some hitters which is cool and some crafty spinners,” Sutherland said.
“We’ve played a little bit against them the last couple of years, had a good series in Bangladesh against them, so we feel like we’ve got a good sense of their bowlers.
“We review teams really, really well … so we’ve done that and feel like we’re confident coming into the game.”
ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026
Australia squad: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham. Travelling reserve: Tahlia Wilson
Australia’s Group 1 fixtures
June 13: beat South Africa by 65 runs
June 17: v Bangladesh, Headingley, Leeds, 7:30pm AEST
June 20: v Netherlands, Rose Bowl, Hampshire, 7:30pm AEST
June 24: v Pakistan, Headingley, Leeds, 3:30am AEST
June 28: v India, Lord’s, London, 11:30pm AEST
Semi-final 1: The Oval, London, June 30, 11:30pm AEST
Semi-final 2: The Oval, London, July 2 (3:30am July 3 AEST)
Final: Lord’s, London, July 5, 11:30pm AEST
Click here for the full tournament schedule
All matches will be broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video
