Australia shatter England’s spirit in six-wicket rout
A superb, unbeaten century partnership between Annabel Sutherland and Ash Gardner guided Australia to another World Cup victory; The two veteran all-rounders once again demoralized England with a six-wicket defeat.
The duo had a sensational day at Indore’s Holkar Stadium on Wednesday; Gardner added two wickets to his second century of the tournament in England’s innings, while Sutherland, player of the match, finished 98th after taking three wickets earlier.
Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner (left) celebrates her century with Annabel Sutherland.Credit: access point
On another day that showed both the champions’ strength in depth and their resilience to bounce back from a tough situation, their only disappointment was that Sutherland and Gardner couldn’t quite pull off a finish that saw them both score hundreds.
The other star of unbeaten Australia’s fifth victory of the tournament was Alana King, who placed them at the top of the league table; He put in another stunning display of leg-spin, taking 1-20 from his 10 flawless overs to strangle England well in the middle innings as they remained at 9-244.
In reply, Australia, without injured captain Alyssa Healy, made another worryingly stuttering start, falling to 4-68 in the 16th over, but Sutherland and Gardner put together an unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 180 from 151 balls to reach their target at 4-248 with 9.3 overs remaining.
Earlier, it was King who took the stress out of England’s mid-innings surge attempt, putting the champions in a strong position with the help of three scalps from the tournament’s leading wicket-taker Sutherland (3-60) and a pair of scalps each from spinners Sophie Molineux (2-52) and Gardner (2-39).
Alana King celebrates with her teammates after taking the wicket of England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt.Credit: Getty Images
With captain Alyssa Healy sidelined as a precaution with a “minor calf strain”, substitute Tahlia McGrath won the toss, was elected to field first and led her troops with good tactical confidence after a difficult start that saw Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones set off with a half-century partnership for England in the powerplay.
Sutherland, who has taken 15 scalps in this World Cup, made the breakthrough by hitting the top of off-stump off off-spinner Jones.
