INDORE: Ashleigh Gardner and Annabel Sutherland starred with the bat as unbeaten Australia completed a convincing six-wicket win over Ashes rivals England on Wednesday in the Women’s World Cup.

Playing without skipper Alyssa Healy, who missed out due to a calf injury, holders Australia restricted England to 244-9 with Sutherland taking three wickets in Indore.

Sutherland then hit 98 and put on an unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 180 with Gardner (104) to lift Australia from a precarious 68-4 and carry them to victory in 40.3 overs.

Gardner made her second ton of the tournament and then swiftly celebrated in style by hitting the winning boundary to condemn England to their first defeat in this edition of the World Cup.

Sutherland, 24, was named player of the match for her battling knock and bowling figures of 3-60.

“She is such a gun and I think it’s scary how young she still is,” stand-in skipper Tahlia McGrath said of Sutherland. “Her planning is meticulous and whenever we’re in trouble, you sort of just turn to Bells. She’s that good.”

Seven-time winners Australia, England and South Africa have already qualified for the semi-finals of the women’s 50-over marquee tournament being co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka are fighting to grab the one remaining semi-final spot.

For Australia, it was their fifth victory in six matches with one game washed out as they top the table on 11 points.

The arch-rivals can still meet in the semi-final or the final on November 2 and England skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt said they can “definitely” beat Australia.

“We’ll take the positives and the learnings. Coming up against a quality side you have to be really good and we weren’t at our best today,” she added. “But we’ll be ready if we see them again.”

Defending 245, England’s bowlers put Australia on the back foot when Linsey Smith dismissed Georgia Voll and Ellyse Perry in quick succession after Lauren Bell bowled Phoebe Litchfield with the third ball of the innings.

Sophie Ecclestone then struck to remove the dangerous Beth Mooney and give England, who lost 16-0 to Australia in the Ashes earlier this year, real hope of a statement win.

Sutherland and Gardner then dug in to put the chase back on track and, once set, took on the England bowling with regular boundaries.

Earlier, England got off to a flying start with Tammy Beaumont, who made 78, leading the batting charge with a string of boundaries, including a hat-trick of fours off Kim Garth in the eighth over.

But all-rounder Sutherland came into the attack and struck in the next over as she bowled wicketkeeper-batter Amy Jones for 18 to end a brisk opening stand of 55.

Beaumont kept up the momentum with Heather Knight but Sophie Molineux broke through with her left-arm spin to send back Knight lbw for 20.

Beaumont raised her fifty with a boundary off Garth but soon England lost their way when Sciver-Brunt fell to Alana King’s leg-spin and Sutherland took down Beaumont.

Alice Capsey and Charlie Dean (26) counter-attacked in their seventh-wicket partnership of 61.

Molineux then dismissed Capsey for 38 and two balls later Gardner had Dean out as England settled for a below-par total at a venue that has produced big runs and a highest of 326 by Australia in this tournament.

Scoreboard

ENGLAND:

A. Jones b Sutherland 18

T. Beaumont c Voll b Sutherland 78

H. Knight lbw b Molineux 20

N. Sciver-Brunt c Sutherland b King 7

S. Dunkley st Mooney b Gardner 22

E. Lamb b Sutherland 7

A. Capsey lbw b Molineux 38

C. Dean c Litchfield b Gardner 26

S. Ecclestone not out 10

L. Smith run out 3

L. Bell not out 2

EXTRAS (B-5, LB-4, NB-1, W-3) 13

TOTAL (for nine wickets, 50 overs) 244

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-55 (Jones), 2-90 (Knight), 3-105 (Sciver-Brunt), 4-147 (Beaumont), 5-160 (Lamb), 6-166 (Dunkley), 7-227 (Capsey), 8-227 (Dean), 9-236 (Smith)

BOWLING: Schutt 4-0-21-0, Garth 7-2-43-0 (1nb), Sutherland 10-1-60-3 (1w), Molineux 10-0-52-2, Alana 10-1-20-1, Gardner 9-0-39-2 (2w)

AUSTRALIA:

P. Litchfield b Bell 1

G. Voll b Smith 6

E. Perry c&b Smith 13

B. Mooney c Sciver-Brunt b Ecclestone 20

A. Sutherland not out 98

A. Gardner not out 104

EXTRAS (B-1, W-5) 6

TOTAL (for four wickets, 40.3 overs) 248

DID NOT BAT: T. McGrath, S. Molineux, A. King, K. Garth, M. Schutt

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-2 (Litchfield), 2-21 (Voll), 3-24 (Perry), 4-68 (Mooney)

BOWLING: Bell 8-0-48-1 (4w), Smith 8-0-43-2, Sciver-Brunt 7-0-44-0 (1w), Ecclestone 9.3-0-62-1, Dean 6-0-32-0, Capsey 2-0-18-0

RESULT: Australia won by six wickets.

PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Annabel Sutherland

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2025