In their Women’s World Cup clash on Wednesday, versatile players Annabel Sutherland and Ashleigh Gardner broke the record by their partnership to take Australia to a comfortable six-wicket win over the arch-rivals England. The duo had a 180-run stand without getting out, which saved Australia from the initial mess and made sure the defending champions stayed undefeated in the tournament.
Once the bowlers had limited England to 244 for nine, Sutherland (98* off 115 balls) and Gardner (104* off 92 balls) went about the chase in a very calm and confident manner, interspersing their innings with powerful strokes, and bringing Australia to victory with 57 balls remaining. The win also enabled Australia to go back to the top of the points table.
Australia recover from early collapse
Following a small target, Australia were shaken to the core right from the start, as after 24 runs, they had already lost three wickets. This was the result of England's new-ball pair Lauren Bell and Linsey Smith, exploiting the movement. Beth Mooney (20) was able to calm the innings for a short time as she batted with Sutherland scoring 44 runs but then Gardner came to the help of Mooney and both of them took the game away from the opposition team. After that, it was Australia only — the two all-rounders got whatever they wanted, changed the batter very smoothly, and hit boundaries as they pleased and thus were able to confirm a very one-sided victory.
Before that, England decided to go on with their innings and thus rode on the excellent performance of the opening batter Tammy Beaumont, who scored 79 runs off 108 balls and thus laid a solid foundation for her team. Tammy looked like a machine and she was extremely accurate when she flicked, drove, and lofted the ball, helping herself to a half-century, which she scored just with 44 balls. However, after a good start with the first wicket partnership yielding 55 runs, the middle-order collapse, which has always been the case, returned to haunt England again.
(With PTI Inputs)
