ICC Womens Cricket World Cup 2025- There has always been a level of inevitability about Australia in ODIs: the sense of power that accompanies unmatched depth, unrelenting efficiency, and almost scripted capability to step up in the big and vital moments. Australia entered this World Cup as favourites, and living up to its reputation, underlined this in its opening match against New Zealand.
The spectacle was not that Australia fought its way back from trouble. That has been a common thread in the entirety of Australia’s dominance. What impressed more was Ashleigh Gardner’s contraross attacked century at No. 6, an innings that showed how far she has come as a batter.
By the 22nd over, Australia had stumbled to 128 for 5 due to a string of rash shots and New Zealand’s contouring inside items. On a flat Indore surface that required at least 300-plus, Australia appears far from safe. Gardner entered the crease fresh, knowing how difficult it could be. A few months earlier in Hobart during the Ashes, Gardner scored her first century in an ODI with a crashing signal at the crease at a similar time and place in the game, from 59 for 4. The clarity was all the same: sharper shots, a palette of forms, but the next script was only predictable.
Declining to Batten Down the Hatches
Most batters would have taken a moment to steady the ship. Gardner did not. Supported by Australia’s enviable depth, with allrounder Kim Garth still waiting down at No. 9, she made her intentions known straight away. She opened her account in her first eight deliveries with two boundaries off Lea Tahuhu and Amelia Kerr, all deliberate strokes into the gaps instead of wild swipes.
Her plan was simple: keep the scoreboard moving, place the ball in the outfield, and run hard between the wickets. After Bree Illing has returned for her second spell, Gardner moved to muscle a drive over mid-on, then made the most of a no-ball and its free hit, with two boundaries off her legs. The potential for collapse was in the air, but Gardner’s clarity dispelled any nerves.
“I was just trying to hit the boundary riders hard, run hard with my partner and be really clear in my thinking,” Gardner later explained. “If I go into my shell, that’s probably when I don’t bat at my best. For me it’s sticking to my strengths.”
With Ease, Change Up Through the Gears
By the 32nd over, despite the dismissal of Tahlia McGrath, Australia had returned to a run-a-ball pace. Two deliveries later, Gardner danced down the pitch and hit her first six for a fifty off 43 balls; her grip on the game tightened from that point onwards.
As wickets rested at the other end, Gardner never faltered in her attacking mindset, and gauged anything below 300 runs would not be enough on this belter of a wicket and therefore began to go even harder.
“I always knew we needed around 310-320,” she said. “Once you settled in, you could really go. The wicket had some pace, and once I figured that out, it just became a matter of staying mentally clear and not overthinking.”
From that point, Gardner went into overdrive mode. The first fifty came off 43 balls, the next 50 ran off 34 balls in between, before she smashed tired bowlers around with short, crisp cuts, lofts, and drives to propel herself to 77-ball century which really got the game lit up again, putting the Australians back on top.
Beyond Just a Finisher
For New Zealand it must have felt like déjà vu. At the 2022 World Cup in Wellington, Gardner had smashed 48 off 18 to propel a respectable total to a winning total. Gardner was the quintessential finisher, rarely spending more than 50 balls in the crease.
The Gardner we see in 2025 is a different beast. Spending extended time in the crease—her 102 off 117 against England in Hobart comes to mind—has shown her patience and an ability to adapt. She is not only the lower-order destroyer, she is a batter who can sustain, hold, and then finish with style.
Wednesday’s innings was evidence of that evolution—a century built from a moment of crisis, sewn together with discipline, and finished off with swagger.
The Evolution of a Match-Winner
Australia’s depth may still define them as a side, but Gardner’s growth defines their future. Once labelled a finisher, she now embodies the complete ODI batter — one who can rescue an innings, dictate its tempo, and finish it in style.
In a team filled with match-winners, Gardner’s transformation ensures that whenever Australia wobble, someone — and increasingly, it seems, her — will rise to the occasion.
Her latest century was not just about salvaging a shaky start. It was a statement: Ashleigh Gardner has evolved into one of Australia’s most dependable middle-order anchors, and one of the most dangerous batters in world cricket.
