Having already triumphed five times, Australia has won the Women’s T20 World Cup for the sixth time. In the final in Cape Town, Australia scored a hat-trick of titles by defeating hosts South Africa by 19 runs for the first time. The star of Australia’s success was all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner, who contributed tremendously from Australia’s first match to the final in the tournament and won the Player of the Tournament title, making the team the champion.
In the final, Australia scored 156 runs while batting first and then stopped South Africa for 137 runs and won the trophy. Gardner, one of Australia’s best all-rounders, made a significant contribution to the team on both fronts, which snatched South Africa’s chance of victory. She scored a rapid 29 runs in 21 balls, which was the second-highest score by Australia. After getting the job done with the bat, Gardner also did wonders with his off-spin. She gave only 20 runs in 4 overs and took one wicket.
Gardner’s Batting Figures in Death Overs
A Gardner is in the ultimate quadrant of the chart because she hits boundaries every 3.83 deliveries and is dismissed after facing at least 23 balls. Following her is NR Sciver, who is ranked second with a BPD of 12.5 and first with a BPB of 2.5. Ashleigh is a significantly special player for the team. On the tough wickets of South Africa, it was a little harsh for her, but she accepted that and conquered it.
She is the kind of batter who knows when to pace the inning and when to slow it down due to her pressure-handling skills. She primarily bats at No. 4 for Australia and consistently demonstrates her ability. Whenever she comes early on the wicket, she makes sure that the scoreboard runs at a regular pace. As a result, her batting skills were one of the principal reasons she won Player of the Tournament.
Gardner’s Bowling Figures in Middle Overs
Again, Gardner lies in the finest quadrant of the chart with an economy rate of 5 and a strike rate of 5. According to her bowling performances in the middle phase of the game, she took six wickets by conceding only 25 runs at a dots percentage of 50%. She has the mastery to slow down the opponent’s inning and attack the stumps continuously. Also, she has a tradition of performing well in big matches.
In the semi-final against India too, Gardner scored a blistering 31 runs off 19 balls while batting first, which put Australia in a good position. After this, she also took 2 wickets, in which she gave a big blow to India by dismissing Smriti Mandhana in the third over itself. In the 2018 T20 World Cup final, Gardner scored 33 against England as well as took 3 wickets and was adjudged player of the match. As a result, her consistent bowling figures make her a star all-rounder for the Australian team at all times.
Conclusion
Overall, Gardner’s performance in the entire tournament was outstanding. Along with scoring 110 runs in the tournament, she also took 10 wickets. For this reason, she was chosen as the player of the tournament. Gardner was spectacular in the very first match of the tournament, taking 5 wickets for 12 runs against New Zealand. After this, she kept doing something amazing in every match. It will be interesting to see how she performs in the WPL starting next month.
