Australia’s women’s T20 world champions want to pile on the runs in Brisbane before heading “into the unknown” to defend their title in Dubai.
23-Sep-2024 • 11 mins ago
Ashleigh Gardner was back from a concussion scare • Getty Images
Australia have banned the pre-game activity that threatened to derail Ashleigh Gardner‘s T20 World Cup as the allrounder challenged her side’s batters to fill their boots in the third T20I against New Zealand in Brisbane on Tuesday.
Gardner missed the series opener against New Zealand in Mackay last Thursday after colliding with teammate Georgia Wareham attempting to catch a soft ‘Vortex’ ball in a warm-up drill.
The reigning Belinda Clark Medallist initially laughed off the incident before leaving the ground in tears, fearing an eighth career concussion as she was ruled out of the contest.
She was cleared though and returned on Sunday with a player of the match effort, her 3 for 16 the headline act of a disciplined bowling performance in a 29-run win over New Zealand.
The 27-year-old saw a neuropsychologist in 2018 after suffering four concussions in the space of 20 months.
“It’s been nice to get back out there after a weird occasion, a head collision in a warm-up,” she said. “It was weird to wrap my head around, but I’ve felt really good the last couple of days.
“I’ve had a lot of head knocks in the past; I know when I am concussed and when I’m not.”
There was no sign of the Vortex before Sunday’s game, Gardner confirming their pre-match routine had been tweaked.
“That’s the end of the Vortex for the rest of the tour,” she said.
Usually happy to chase, captain Alyssa Healy opted to bat first on Sunday and force her team to set the pace ahead of next month’s World Cup defence in Dubai.
Healy (38 off 25) got off to a flyer but Australia’s innings stalled, the hosts recording their worst collapse in the format when they lost their last seven wickets for 28 runs as Amelia Kerr returned career-best figures of 4 for 20.
A total of 142 proved more than enough thanks to Australia’s bowlers. But Gardner wants to see improvements in their final hit-out in Brisbane on Tuesday before flying to the UAE.
“There’s still a lot left in the tank; hopefully in this last game if we do bat first we can put a massive total on the board,” she said.
She said there were no excuses given the side’s incredible batting depth meant Annabel Sutherland entered at the fall of the sixth wicket.
“Sutherland at eight is pretty ridiculous,” she said. “Going into conditions like Dubai, we haven’t played there before [for Australia] so we’re kind of going into the unknown a little bit.
“But knowing we have a defendable total like 140, we know our bowling unit is good enough to restrict them
“The skill we possess, in all facets … it was pretty clinical.”
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