Australia brings back bad memories for England at the Women’s World Cup

Have you ever had the feeling of deja vu? On Wednesday in Indore, Australia picked up where they left off at the MCG in January, with Alana King bowling unplayable balls, Annabel Sutherland and Ash Gardner piling up the runs and one side leaving the other in the dust. It’s the World Cup rather than the Ashes, but the result – a six-wicket win for Australia, with 57 balls to spare – was awfully familiar.

Sutherland’s contribution to this World Cup was limited to merely being the leading wicket-taker. She demonstrated her variations again on Wednesday, getting a touch of away movement to clip the top of Amy Jones’ stump, before removing Tammy Beaumont and Emma Lamb with her slower ball. Her three for 60, and a 10-over spell from King that made 20, meant England put just 244 on the board.

England saw a glimmer of hope after Australia wobbled to 68 for four, with Linsey Smith making another appearance in the powerplay. But Sutherland, who had failed to reach double figures in four previous matches, snatched that hope away. Her unbeaten 98 was only bettered by Gardner’s extremely powerful ball striking, who needed 22 balls to transform her half-century into a ton.

Such was Australia’s dominance that, after bringing up her century with four runs needed for victory, Gardner defended three balls from Lauren Bell to try to enable Sutherland to reach three figures of her own. But Sutherland opted to single, allowing Gardner to reach the winning boundary. “I was happy that Ash got it done,” Sutherland told Sky Sports.

Both teams have already qualified for the semi-finals, but Australia are in pole position to top the group, assuming they beat South Africa on Saturday. England will play the loser of that match on Sunday regardless of the result in their final group stage match against New Zealand.

“We took a few wickets at the start and put them under the pump but they came back with a brilliant partnership to win the match,” said Nat Sciver-Brunt. “Every now and then we created chances and some pressure, but we couldn’t extend them. Australia hit very deep.”

This was England’s first defeat, but the theme of their campaign continued to haunt them: a weak middle. This time it related to a phase of play, rather than the batting line-up: they scored 26 runs between the 20th and 30th overs and hit three boundaries between overs 21 and 40.

That was partly a testament to King’s skillful leg-spinners – of which Sciver-Brunt fouled Sutherland midway through the match – but it also perhaps reflected some lingering nervousness in the England line-up after their two best hitters, Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight, departed early.

Beaumont, finally regaining some form and looking good for three figures, eventually tried to force the pace and was stuck long-on for 78. The catcher was Georgia Voll, who was playing her first game of the World Cup after Alyssa Healy was forced out due to a calf injury.

Apparently, the rugby ball Voll had been spinning on the bench for hours had warmed her up for her big moment: the former Queensland Under-18 rugby league player jumped into the air, got off balance and was able to parry the ball again and catch it on the second attempt.

“That’s why this team is so great,” Gardner told Sky Sports. “We win those little moments that eventually become big moments.”

Australia’s bowlers had been uncharacteristically wayward early on – Beaumont sinking her teeth into a free after Kim Garth went too far, conceding six runs, as England scored 55 runs in the first eight overs. At the back, Alice Capsey and Charlie Dean added much-needed impetus after Sutherland ran out of strength.

The problem was the moments in between: Sciver-Brunt had a rare blood rush against King; and a horrendous bit of cricket from Sophia Dunkley, who charged down the track at Gardner, didn’t get near the ball and tripped over her own legs in a fruitless attempt to return to the crease.

At that moment, Alyssa Healy was seen grinning and dancing in the dugout. “She’s keeping a good record of progress, but day by day,” stand-in captain Tahlia McGrath told Sky Sports.

I hope that she will be back on the field, ready to lead her team’s attack to what feels like another inevitable world title.