In an Australian outfit brimming with stars, Ashleigh Gardner and Annabel Sutherland shared the spotlight at the Holkar Stadium on Wednesday.
In a round-robin battle against England at the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025, the two all-rounders produced the goods with bat and ball to steer the defending champion to a six-wicket win. While Gardner smashed an unbeaten 104 off 73 balls and took two wickets, Sutherland’s contribution was an unbeaten 98 to go with three scalps.
Their unbroken 180-run stand helped the girls in yellow and green, in the absence of injured skipper Alyssa Healy, romp to a target of 245 in just 40.3 overs. That they did so despite being 24 for three at one stage should sound alarm bells for their opponents in the marquee tournament. By virtue of the win, Australia has regained top spot in the standings with 11 points in six matches. For England, this was the first defeat of the campaign. However, it has now suffered eight losses in a row against its traditional rival.
Having joined hands at 68 for four in the 16th over, Sutherland and Gardner almost seemed impervious to the spate of wickets that had tumbled. They cut, drove, and swept with a touch of class and finesse, never allowing the English bowlers a foot in the door in the time they spent at the crease.
In England’s total of 244 for nine, opener Tammy Beaumont (78, 105b, 10×4, 1×6) played a leading hand. Sutherland and Alana King (10-1-20-1) were the pick of the Australian bowlers.
After a brisk 55-run stand between Beaumont and Amy Jones for the opening wicket, Australia pulled it back via Sutherland. After five dot balls in the ninth over, the Victorian castled Jones with a beauty: the ball angled in from wide of the crease before jagging away to hit off-pole.
Beaumont, who cut pacer Kim Garth through point for four to move to 52 in 59 balls, managed just 26 runs off her last 46 deliveries. If not for a 61-run partnership between Alice Capsey and Charlie Dean for the seventh wicket, England wouldn’t have even got to the total it did.
