Ashleigh Gardner makes welcome return to form for Australia as they steamroll India to take the clean sweep in ODI series.
Ashleigh Gardner plays her part as Australia rebound after T20 World Cup disappointment.
As they prepare to defend their 50-over title next year, Australia bounced back from the setbacks in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 with a series clean sweep of India.
After two easy wins in Brisbane, Australia outscored India before winning the series by 83 runs in a wild match played in stifling circumstances at the WACA in Perth.
Australia’s loss to South Africa in the UAE semi-final left them with an unaccustomed bitter taste going into the ODI series. Due to the WBBL commencing nearly immediately after, the squad and hierarchy were unable to have a debrief, highlighting an increasingly constrained women’s cricket calendar.
“I think it was just a really good touch point for our group to realise the things that we weren’t doing as well as probably what we could have,” Ashleigh Gardner told reporters after the third ODI. “We reviewed that game [against South Africa] and then… we were just really positive on where this group can get to.
“And I think that’s the most exciting thing, that anyone that comes into this group is excited to be here, really wants to be here, and just striving to be better every day.”
Throughout the series against India, many players from Australia showed their mettle. In Perth, Gardner and Annabel Sutherland’s all-around efforts defeated an Indian team that mustered a late fight, while rookie Georgia Voll’s outstanding exploits at the top of the order highlighted their victories in Brisbane.
Gardner bounced back from her WBBL setbacks with a score of 50 off 64 balls after Australia had fallen to 78 for 4, marking a welcome return to form. She backed up with the ball to achieve career-best numbers of 5 for 30, marking her first ODI half-century in nearly 18 months.
“I felt it’s one of those things… you feel really confident in the nets but then it doesn’t replicate in the middle,” Gardner said. “For me, I knew that I just had to spend a little bit of time out in the middle and I came in at a pretty tough time.
“I just love batting with Bells [Sutherland]. It’s always really positive, just keep each other going in those moments and knowing that if we just got through that tough little phase… it would be fine. And I guess that’s the messaging that I just tried to keep telling myself.”
With Alyssa Healy on the sidelines for the entire series due to injury, Tahlia McGrath took the captaincy reins with the 27-year-old Gardner as her deputy. “I think T-Mac [McGrath] and I work really well together,” she said. “We’re obviously very different personalities, but I think we complement each other in that way as well.
“She’s a very cool, calm person. And I guess what I challenged her with was to try and think outside the box. What I tried to throw to her was just different ideas at different points to get her mind ticking over.”