Sutherland and Gardner quell England’s storming powerplay as they answer team’s SOS with commanding 180-run stand.
England dot but Australia dash, as Sutherland and Gardner crack the code.
After reaching her century, Ashleigh Gardner played out three dot-balls. A complete toss was one of those. However, the 8,531-strong crowd at Holkar Stadium cheered, and the Australia dugout was filled with high fives and laughter. At the 2025 Women’s World Cup, Australia was four runs away from giving England their first loss. A well-earned century would have been within five runs of Annabel Sutherland.
Despite a missed catch, Sutherland was unable to reach her hundred in the following over. Gardner then maintained Australia’s perfect record in this competition by lofting Sophie Ecclestone over mid-off to end the chase.
When Australia reached 68 for 4 in their 245-run chase, Sutherland and Gardner joined forces. They taught England’s batters many valuable lessons by pulling off an unbroken 180 for the fifth wicket. Here’s an illustration.
Sutherland had just used her lengthy stride to thread England’s quickest bowler, Lauren Bell, through extra cover for a four. Amy Jones, the wicketkeeper, then approached the stumps. Sutherland was quickly off strike and managed to get a second four of the over with a cut through backward point while the keeper was still upright.
A score of 68 for 4 is severe enough to warrant caution. especially now that England is forcing their spinners into action. However, Australia’s operating instructions listed playing out a dot as the final option. Throughout their innings, England faced 169 dot-balls, or roughly 28 overs. Australia completed their chase with 57 balls remaining after playing out just 107 dots, or less than 18 overs. Just 51 of the 148 balls in the Sutherland-Gardner pairing ended without a run.
Sutherland soon learnt that it was dangerous to hang back in her crease, especially when she was spinning. In the fourteenth over, she had nearly paid the price for it when she punched the ball back towards Ecclestone. Ecclestone’s right palm was on her mouth in shock because she couldn’t afford to accept that half-chance.
Sutherland was aware that she would need to get the ball moving. She made excellent use of her feet, either shuffled over her crease to nudged the ball towards the outfield or came down the track to intercept it early. It wasn’t always the plan to fly but to rely on one-twos instead.
Using her feet against spin made Gardner happier. Likewise, she had no qualms about flying. It is actually difficult to limit boundaries against a high-intent batter like Gardner, as there are only four fielders permitted outside the inner circle from the eleventh over to the end. She also hit 16 off them en route to her second century at this World Cup, which came off 69 balls. In ODI World Cups, Gardner is only a century ahead of Karen Rolton (57 balls) and Belinda Clark (64 balls). Six twos, a three, and 67 singles were run by them together.
Sutherland’s unbeaten 98 followed up her three-for as she took home the Player-of-the-Match honours. In the process, she laid down a template for England’s batters to ponder.