Ashleigh Gardner ran the show for Australia in the Women’s T20 World Cup on Friday (Oct 11) as they registered their third consecutive win of the tournament. Playing against Pakistan, Ashleigh Gardner scalped four wickets, leading the former champions to the brink of semifinal qualification. The nine-wicket defeat also saw Pakistan concede a second consecutive defeat having lost to India on Sunday.
Ashleigh Gardner showcased her dominance for Australia in the Women’s T20 World Cup on Friday, leading her team to their third consecutive victory of the tournament. Facing off against Pakistan, Ashleigh Gardner’s exceptional performance included taking four wickets, propelling the former champions towards the brink of semifinal qualification. Pakistan’s nine-wicket defeat marked their second consecutive loss, following their defeat to India on Sunday.
Pitch and Toss
Pitch Report: 63m and 57m square boundaries, 73m down the ground. Looks a good surface. There’s an even covering of bounce, fast bowlers will get some good results. There will be swing for the pace bowlers.
Australia skipper Alyssa Healy won the toss and chose the bowl with one change in the playing XI . Pakistan stand in skipper Muneeba Ali for Fatima Sana batting first made couple of changes to the playing XI.
Ashleigh Gardner’s 4 wickets restricts Pakistan Women to 82 all out.
Australia captain Alyssa Healy won the toss and decided to bowl first against Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. And the defending champions picked up two wickets in the powerplay to restrict Pakistan to 23/2 in the opening six overs. Muneeba Ali was the first to go, lofting a catch to Phoebe Litchfield off Sophie Molineux for 7, and Sadaf Shamas soon joined her back in the dugout, caught behind off Megan Schutt for 3.
There was a setback for Australia though, with Tayla Vlaeminck forced from the field due to an injury she picked up off just the fourth ball of the innings. Australia showed their impressive depth in quality as they picked up two further wickets with their change bowlers. All-rounder Annabel Sutherland had opener Sidra Amin (12) trapped in-front, and Georgia Wareham removed Omaima Sohail (3) to leave Pakistan four down and in need of something special to build a competitive score.
Pakistan’s resistance appeared all-but over when Nida Dar (10) was stumped by Healy off Wareham, but Aliya Riaz had other ideas, taking the game long. A three-wicket over from Ashleigh Gardner left Pakistan on the brink, and Sutherland finished the job as Riaz was finally dismissed off the penultimate ball of the innings for 26.
In the match, Pakistan struggled to find their footing while batting first, ultimately being bowled out for a disappointing total of 82 runs in 19.5 overs. This marked the lowest score by a team in the first 10 overs of any match in the tournament, highlighting their slow start and lack of momentum.
Despite Aliya Riaz’s contribution of 26 runs, the rest of the Pakistani batters failed to effectively counter the Australian bowling attack. Ashleigh Gardner’s standout performance with four wickets, along with contributions from Annabel Sutherland and Georgia Wareham with two wickets each, proved pivotal in Australia’s victory.
Pakistan were already up against it versus a team they’d never beaten in 15 attempts in this and the difficulty of their task was accentuated by the absence of captain Fatima Sana. Stand-in skipper Muneeba Ali rang in another change by replacing the out-of-form opener Gull Feroza even as Sadaf Shamas and Iram Javed made their first appearances of the tournament.
Australia’s benevolence to this mismatched clash extended only as far as a couple of dropped catches. They were, however, on the money with the ball after opting to chase and quickly had their opponents at 23 for 2 after the PowerPlay. Sophie Molineux struck first by having Muneeba caught at mid-wicket. Shamas then fell to an excellent catch by Alyssa Healy standing up to the stumps to seamer Megan Schutt.
The degree of difficulty faced by Pakistan’s batters is best encapsulated by how it took them 49 balls to find their first boundary – scored by Nida Dar. By then they’d also lost Sidra Amin and Omaima Sohail to Sutherland and Wareham respectively. Dar’s brief enterprise was halted when she stepped out to Wareham and was stumped.
Ashleigh Gardner didn’t get among the wickets until her third over, the 17th of the match. Iram Javed didn’t get any distance on an attempted slog sweep and was caught at deep mid-wicket.
Then in her final over, Gardner had Tuba Hassan stumped off the first ball before adding the wickets of Syeda Aroob and Nashra Sandhu with the last two balls of her spell. Aliya Riaz (26 off 32) was the only batter to offer any semblance of resistance to Australia’s irresistible force. She scored three of the four boundaries hit by her side and was the last batter dismissed.
There were two botches to an otherwise clinical day at work for Australia. There was a shoulder dislocation to seamer Tayla Vlaeminck, who replaced Grace Harris for this game.
The 25-year-old, who has been beset with injury concerns in her brief career so far, lasted only four balls into her second T20 World Cup game – her previous one came in 2018 – when she slid to field the ball but found her knee stuck in the turf and tumbled over. Australia had another injury concern late in the game when captain Healy retired hurt just before the chase was sealed with a suspected calf problem, details of which are awaited.
Megan Schutt had an exceptional first two matches in Sharjah, where she established herself as the most economical bowler of the tournament so far, but was also able to take wickets on a surface that offered very little assistance. She’d have been delighted to get to more helpful conditions in Dubai and started with two testing overs as she shaped the ball away from Muneeba Ali and into Sidra Amin.
Schutt was given a third over in the powerplay, where she played with her lengths, and eventually drew Sadaf Shamas into a drive and Healy was convinced Shamas had hit it. She reviewed, successfully, to give Schutt her 144th T20I wicket – which took her to the top of the overall T20I wicket-takers’ list. Schutt overtook one of the players in the opposition, Nida Dar, who had to come to the crease with Shamas’ dismissal. Pakistan were 18 for 2 after five overs and 23 for 2 at the end of six.
Pakistan were starting to rebuild – but only slightly – between the 10th and 16th over courtesy a 19-run stand between Iram Javed and Aliya Riaz though they always looked close to being separated. Ashleigh Gardner should have had Javed stumped on 10 when she came down the track and swung at a length delivery but Healy missed the chance.
It didn’t take too long for Ashleigh Gardner to get her own back. In her next over, she tossed one up and Iram could not resist going for a big one. She skied it towards deep mid-wicket where Georgia Wareham was completely unfussed by the ring of fire and took a good catch. Ashleigh Gardner’s final over was the innings’ penultimate and Pakistan had to go in search of runs.
Off the second ball, Healy made no mistake when Tuba Hassan came down the track, swung, missed and was stumped. Aroob Shah hit Ashleigh Gardner’s second-last ball to Beth Mooney at mid-wicket and Nashra Sandhu was given out lbw off the last ball which turned past her inside-edge to hit her on the pad. Ashleigh Gardner finished with 4 for 21, her second-best figures in T20Is.
Healy, Mooney race away to easy win with 9 wickets against Pakistan
Australia started their reply with eight runs off their first 11 balls, none of them boundaries. That was all they needed to see and began to cash in thereafter. Healy drove Dar through the covers to register Australia’s first boundary and the fours kept coming. Beth Mooney hit three off Sadia Iqbal’s opening over, demonstrating her strength through the offside and Healy followed up with two more off Sadaf Shamas.
Australia were 36 without loss in the fifth over when Mooney hit Iqbal to Aliya Riaz on the edge of the inner ring at mid-off but the horse had bolted. They won with 54 balls remaining, and their excellent NRR means they’d have to lose by 61 or more runs against India to be displaced from No. 1.
Barring those two concerns, Australia went about the game with ruthless efficiency to it. They matched Pakistan’s tally of boundaries in just the third over of the chase with Beth Mooney taking Sadia Iqbal for three fours in an over. Even as the left-hander fell, Australia had 46 in the PowerPlay with their captain Healy now taking over the mantle of finding boundaries. She scored 37* off 23 before walking off with 13 runs to get.
Openers Healy and Beth Mooney got Australia’s chase off to a flier, with a flurry of boundaries eating into the target inside the powerplay. The impressive Sadia Iqbal struck to remove Mooney for a run-a-ball 15, but Australia had reached 46/1 after six overs, already halfway to the winning number.
Healy (37* from 23) was given a reprieve when she was dropped in the outfield by Sandhu, and looked set to take advantage by steering her team to victory. But the Australian skipper pulled up in the process of running a single off the first ball of the tenth over and was forced to retire hurt, leaving the field in clear discomfort.
Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner finished the job, reaching the target with nine overs to spare, meaning Australia are all-but guaranteed a spot in the semi-finals.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Tahlia McGrath (vice-captain) walks in for the injured Alyssa Healy said : [on Healy] Not a lot. Calf – assess the damage, it’s a process and we will find out more in the coming days. [on Vlaeminck] Hard to tell, she is a bit of a character. She has had a really tough run of injuries, heartbroken for her, we will rally around her and see what we can do. It was really important and we love Tay and it was pretty hard to watch to be honest.
To come together as a group after that and it was very important to refocus and regroup. We just thought these conditions were best to chase on, little bit different to Sharjah. Our bowlers have been unreal the whole tournament, Schutt set the tone early on, Ash followed it up and Midge [Healy] was outstanding with the bat.
Big meeting, going through the stats and exciting to get over here and I thought we played really well. The thing about this Australian side is how much depth we have got, captaincy-wise and wicketkeeper-wise, yeah, time to use it.
Muneeba Ali the Pakistan Women skipper said : It has been challenging, but as professionals we are very much aware of the magnitude of this game. We are not up to the mark in batting. That’s not how you approach T20 cricket, it’s embarrassing and we need to change that and win games for Pakistan.
Belief should have been there – that is why we are here to play and win matches. I have been vice-captain for this team and it is a good opportunity for me to learn as well. We are here to play and we are here to win. Everybody needs to step up and we need to have the confidence to win the last game. That’s the reality and everybody in the batting order needs to step up.
Ashleigh Gardner Player of the Match for her 4 wickets said : It was nice conditions to be honest, bit more bounce than Sharjah. Helped me with the way I bowl. Everyone who got a bowl did a really good job and lucky that I got a few wickets at the end. [on Vlaeminck] To see one of our really good really mates go down like that in the first over is never nice to see.
Especially after the hard work that Tayla has put in to get back here and to see that, we are certainly feeling bad for her and it’s super unfortunate for her. I’m kind of turning in the right direction. Big challenge against India next, they will challenge us and certainly will challenge me personally.
We have good battles against them recently. That’s the good thing about this team. We have had so much experience, we have seen Wareham come up to number 3 but also seen her as an amazing finisher. We might not get too much time out in the middle at times but it is a credit to our top-order. The class that they have, that is certainly something I wouldn’t change.
14th consecutive win for Australia in T20 World Cups. And it has come without them breaking a sweat. The five bowlers chipped in with wickets with Gardner leading the way with a four-fer as Pakistan were bowled out for 82. That target was never going to test this Australian side and they have chased down the target in 11 overs. Pakistan did not have enough on the board and did not cause any impact with the ball too.
They badly missed their inspirational captain in Fatima Sana and with this heavy loss, their semi-final hopes is all but over. As far as Australia are concerned, they will eagerly wait for an update on their skipper’s status who went off with what looked like a suspect calf muscle pull. Also Tayla Vlaeminck dislocated her shoulder earlier on while fielding and her tournament should be done after that.
Another game in a T20 World Cup and another dominant Australia win. The juggernaut just rolls on. Next up for this Australian side is India. And that will be a big game with both teams looking to make a statement.
An Australian side struck by two injuries marched to a third massive win over a depleted Pakistan team, who slumped to the lowest total of the tournament so far. The result leaves Pakistan all but out of knockout contention while Australia are now almost certain to qualify into the final four.
Pakistan were without their captain Fatima Sana, after the passing of her father, and senior seamer Diana Baig, who has not recovered from the leg injury that saw her leave the field after bowling one ball in their tournament opener, and they missed the pair’s enthusiasm and experience. Only one of their batters, Aliya Riaz, scored more than 20, while there were five scores of single figures, two ducks and no partnerships worth more than 19.
All that happened after Australia lost their quickest bowler, Tayla Vlaeminck – who was playing her first T20 World Cup match since 2018 – before she had even bowled a ball. Vlaeminck dislocated her shoulder while tumbling at short third in the first over of the game trying to cut off a boundary, and there’s a cloud over her participation in the remainder of the tournament.
Her absence did not stop Australia from making run-scoring difficult for Pakistan. They found the other six bowlers tough to get away, only scored their first boundary of the innings in the ninth over, and hit just four fours in all. Australia had struck that many by the third over of their innings. Alyssa Healy was responsible for five of them and seemed set to take Australia to victory but retired hurt in the 10th over, as she hobbled to complete a second run off Aroob Shah. Healy gingerly headed to the dressing room with a foot injury.
Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner polished off the total in 11 overs, which has taken Australia’s net run-rate up to 2.786, leaving them almost assured of a final-four place. Their last group match is against India in Sharjah on Sunday. Pakistan face New Zealand on Monday.