A far-from-ideal preparation and a healthy dose of nerves failed to faze Phoebe Litchfield in Manchester, as she took down one of the game’s all-time great fast bowlers to make an early mark on the T20 World Cup.
Having missed both of Australia’s warm-up games in Cardiff with a quad niggle, Litchfield was thrown into the action in the first over against South Africa at Old Trafford after opener Georgia Voll departed for a duck.
Soon after, fiery Proteas quick Shabnim Ismail, their all-time leading wicket taker in women’s T20 World Cups and who came out of international retirement for this tournament, had Beth Mooney caught behind.
Rather than retreat and rebuild, Litchfield instead took on her Sydney Thunder teammate Ismail.
She was struck on the shoulder after a mistimed pull on the second Ismail delivery she faced, but quickly brushed it off, timing her next attempt to perfection to find the boundary, following up with a second four from the next legal ball.
When South Africa gave Ismail a third over in the Powerplay, Litchfield capitalised, thrashing the first ball through the covers, then squeezing the second through backward point, before pulling the third over the square leg boundary for six.
With the momentum now firmly in Australia’s favour, the 23-year-old went on to post a 23-ball half-century, the second quickest by an Australian woman at T20 World Cups, with 29 of her runs coming from 11 Ismail deliveries.
“Phoebe’s the type of person to just run at any challenge, I think, she’s just constantly wanting to take the game on at any stage, which is pretty cool to witness and awesome to watch,” Georgia Wareham said following the match.
“There’s always something happening when Phoebe’s out there and to see her growth over the last 12 months, or however long she’s been playing for Australia, has been awesome to watch.
“The way that she played is the absolute blueprint for us.
“She was awesome, she just took the game on and swung the momentum in our favour from the get-go there.
“When she’s playing those sort of shots, it’s pretty hard to look away.”
This World Cup sees Litchfield carry greater responsibility than at her maiden T20 tournament in 2024, where she batted in the middle order.
Since the start of 2025 however, she has been firmly backed in at No.3, with decent if not outstanding results, averaging 19 at a strike rate of 126.66 in 12 innings prior to Saturday.
Her knock at Old Trafford was a breakthrough moment, marking Litchfield’s first half-century at No.3, and her first in T20Is since September 2024.
Reflecting on walking out to the middle at Old Trafford, Litchfield confessed the occasion, and 8,000-strong crowd, had triggered some nerves.
“The atmosphere was all really cool, but I was like, ‘Okay, this is high stakes right now’ – that’s a beautiful energy, though,” Litchfield told cricket.com.au.
“I feel like that’s why you love playing cricket, for those kind of games.
“It was tough (facing Ismail and Kapp). I was pretty nervous to tell you truthfully, and I just knew that their opening bowlers win them games, so I knew how important that partnership was going to be with Beth Mooney and then Ellyse Perry.
“I think the way we bounced back from that and threw another punch was awesome, and kind of gave our batting some momentum, and the middle order took it from there.”
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
