Manchester, June 13 (IANS) Australia captain Sophie Molineux praised her side's ability to recover from a difficult start and hailed Phoebe Litchfield's growing confidence after the six-time champions opened their Women's T20 World Cup 2026 campaign with a commanding 65-run victory over South Africa at Emirates Old Trafford on Saturday.

Australia were rocked early after being sent in to bat, losing Georgia Voll for a duck and Beth Mooney for seven against the new-ball pace of Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail. However, Litchfield's explosive 51 off 24 balls, along with useful contributions from Georgia Wareham, Ellyse Perry, and Annabel Sutherland, lifted Australia to 172/8 before their bowlers dismissed South Africa for 107.

Reflecting on the performance, Molineux was pleased with the way her side responded after the early setbacks.

"We were in trouble there at the start. Kappy and Shabs bowled really well in the Power-play and put us on the back foot. So the way that the girls bounced back and then carried that into our bowling innings was really pleasing," Molineux said after the match.

The Australian skipper also praised her batting group for sticking to their aggressive approach despite losing early wickets.

"I think that's probably the way we want to play. We've got a top order and a middle order that can play all around the ground. They bat their best when they take the game on. It was great to see the girls feel like they could do that and have that freedom out there," she said.

Molineux reserved special praise for Litchfield, whose counterattacking half-century changed the course of the innings and earned widespread praise from teammates.

"She's amazing, Pheebs. Extremely skilful, but you can see her confidence and game awareness are just going through the roof now. She's going to be a really key player for us in this tournament. I'm so happy for her to make a few," Molineux said.

The captain also spoke about her leadership style after guiding Australia to a comfortable victory in her first World Cup match in charge.

"I get a lot of help with that. We have the right people in the right places when it comes to field settings, but with captaincy, you do have to go with your gut a little bit. It became a pretty spin-friendly wicket by that innings, so we went with that. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't, but today was a good day," she added.

Australia's bowlers backed up the batting effort in style, with Georgia Wareham claiming 3-13 while Molineux and Alana King picked up two wickets each as the defending champions began their title campaign on a winning note.

--IANS

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