ENGLAND lost their first match of the Women’s World Cup as they suffered a six-wicket defeat by the formidable defending champions, Australia, in Indore.
Australia suffered a top-order wobble, falling to 24-3 and 68-4, only for a flawless partnership of 180 between Annabel Sutherland and Ash Gardner to lead them to victory with 9.3 overs to spare.
Sutherland, who also took three wickets in England’s 244-9, finished with 98 and Gardner made a sensational 104 from 73 balls as Australia’s astonishing batting depth came to the fore again.
England had their moments, notably the positive start from openers Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones as they punished an uncharacteristically sloppy start from the Australian bowlers, adding 55 in eight overs.
But Jones’ dismissal, bowled by a Sutherland beauty, put the brakes on.
Beaumont found much-needed form as she top- scored with 78 but the middle order came to a standstill that was instigated by leg-spinner Alana King, who took 1-20 in 10 overs.
England’s middle-order glue in Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt only managed 20 and seven respectively, Sophia Dunkley stuttered to 22 from 48 balls and Emma Lamb’s struggles at six continued with another single-figure score.
Charlie Dean again rescued England somewhat with the bat, adding a valuable stand of 61 from 52 balls with Alice Capsey, who made an entertaining 38, but Australia’s superstar all-rounders proved that the total was still significantly below par when faced with such a stellar batting line-up.

The pair started cautiously in rebuilding the innings before racing through the gears to punish an England bowling attack that had no answers, neither offering a chance in a masterclass of one-day batting.
There was not much on the line, given the fact that both teams had already qualified for the semi-finals, but it was another reminder to the rest of the world about what will be required to dethrone the juggernaut.
Gardner delivers again
Australia have had a few batting wobbles throughout the tournament so far, notably with top-order slumps against New Zealand and Pakistan, but what makes them so admirable is that someone will always step up when others fail.
Despite her bowling brilliance, Sutherland’s previous returns in the tournament with the bat were five, one and nought but here, she was blessed with time and showed extraordinary composure.
England had a dream start, with Lauren Bell bowling Phoebe Litchfield with a stunner in the first over followed by Georgia Voll swiping across the line to Linsey Smith, before Ellyse Perry chipped back to the same bowler for 13.
Firstly with the left-handed Beth Mooney, Sutherland steadied the ship by mostly dealing in accumulating singles, before the former was fantastically caught by Sciver-Brunt at mid-wicket off Sophie Ecclestone to shift momentum back to England.
From there, England were not given a sniff. Sutherland took on the responsibility with a patient fifty from 66 balls, and found the perfect companion in Gardner’s counter-attack.
England’s heads dropped in the face of such class as they went searching for wickets which started to leak runs at a canter. Gardner’s second century of the tournament came from 69 balls, after it became a race between the two all-rounders for who could get there first.
Having reached the milestone, Gardner tried to block out a few overs to give Sutherland the opportunity, but as she could not get the boundary required, Gardner thumped the winning runs off Ecclestone with her 16th four.