In the middle of what was a somber press conference that reflected the nature of India’s batting collapse against England in Indore, Smriti Mandhana had dropped an interesting line. Explaining the team’s decision to drop Jemimah Rodrigues in favour of an additional bowling option, the Indian vice-captain said: “We are not privileged enough to have our batters who could bowl few overs.” She didn’t take their name, but she might well have been talking about the incredible Australian team.
On Wednesday, at the same venue against England, where Mandhana and Co let slip the chance to register a big win, Australia showed why they rule the women’s game. Two of their star all-rounders stepped up to finish a chase from a position of strife – 68/4 in pursuit of 245 – so much so that they won the match with six wickets and 57 balls to spare. Annabel Sutherland and Ashleigh Gardner, who bowled 19 overs between them and took 5 wickets, scored an unbeaten 98 and 104 respectively in a stunning unbroken 180-run stand. It’s the sort of elite match-winning all-round quality that other teams in the tournament can only dream of. That their captain Alyssa Healy, who had hit back-to-back centuries, was only watching on from the sidelines due to an injury, didn’t end up even remotely derailing their campaign is a marker of why they are the overwhelming favourites for the title again.
In both halves of the match, England were off to brilliant starts. With the bat, they came flying out of the gates as Australia’s new ball bowlers missed their lines and lengths, reaching 55/0 after just 8 overs. With the ball in hand, they reduced Australia to 24/3 in the sixth over. But that’s the thing against this Australian side. You can put them under trouble, but you can rarely get them flustered.
One of the positives for England from an otherwise chastening experience was their out-of-touch opener Tammy Beaumont finding some form before the semifinals. Her 78 was an innings that started with the right intent, helped by an early no ball that gave her a free hit to free her arms and get going. But Alana King was sensational in the middle overs for Australia once more, with the leg spinner now registering figures of 10-4-18-2 against Bangladesh and 10-1-20-1 against England to continue her sensational form.
Australia, the ruthless machine they are, were not pleased with how they let England put on a late surge led by Alice Capsey but as stand-in skipper Tahlia McGrath said, they ‘d have taken 245 as the target at the start of the match. And despite losing early wickets in the chase, the result was barely in doubt once Sutherland and Gardner got together in the middle.
While Sutherland has been leading Australia’s charge with the ball, her batting hadn’t quite come to the party in the tournament. And she picked the perfect time to find some touch, with the semifinals on the horizon. The medium pacer who is the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 15, had scores of 5, 1 and 0 coming into this game. But against a strong England bowling unit, took control in the middle to steady a rocking ship after Beth Mooney’s dismissal. Then Gardner, who had already bailed Australia out of trouble at this very venue at the start of the tournament with a century, struck a second ton, with a much more aggressive approach than Sutherland as the two complemented each other brilliantly.
McGrath was full of praise for Sutherland, the player of the match. “Spinners did a fantastic job with the ball. Little bit of a shaky start with the bat, but then Bellsy and Ash… just world class, so good to watch them be clinical. Feel for Bellsy a bit, not getting a 100. She thoroughly deserved it. She is such a gun, and I think it’s scary how young she still is. She’s one of our hardest trainers. Her planning is meticulous and whenever we’re in trouble, you sort of just turn to her. She’s that good.”
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For England, the defeat marked the end of their unbeaten record in the tournament – which was a bit of an anomaly as they were perhaps heading to a defeat against Pakistan in Colombo before weather intervened and on course to losing against India on Sunday before the hosts’ contrived to collapse. Nat Sciver-Brunt, who rued not having enough runs on the board, will need to address her side’s batting troubles as they have been well short of their best so far in the tournament.
Brief scores: England 244/9 in 50 overs (Tammy Beaumont 78, Annabel Sutherland 3/60, Ash Gardner 2/39) lost to Australia 248/4 in 40.3 overs (Ash Gardner 104*, Annabel Sutherland 98*, Lauren Bell 1/48) by 6 wickets.
