'So good to watch them. It was clinical and I feel for Bells a bit, not getting a hundred. She thoroughly deserved it.'
Stand-in-skipper Tahlia McGrath lauded “world-class” Annabel Sutherland and Ashleigh Gardner for bailing Australia out of early wobble and guiding them to a six-wicket win over England in the Women's World Cup match, in Indore, on Wednesday.
Sutherland (98 not out) and Gardner (104 not out) shared a 180-run alliance for the fifth wicket as the Aussies recovered from 68 for four to overhaul England's 244.
“Bells and Ash were just world-class. So good to watch them. It was clinical and I feel for Bells a bit, not getting a hundred. She thoroughly deserved it,” McGrath said in the post-match presentation.
“She (Sutherland) is such a gun and it's scary how young she still is. She's one of our hardest trainers. Her planning is meticulous and whenever we're in trouble, you sort of just turn to Bells. She's that good,” she said.
Regular skipper Alyssa Healy missed the game against England with a minor calf strain, and McGrath the wicketkeeper batter has been on the recuperation path.
“A bit day by day, I'll leave that in the hands of the physio,” she said.
Player-of-the-match Sutherland lauded centurion Gardner for taking the match by the scruff of its neck.
Sutherland and Gardner shared a match-winning 180-run stand for the unbroken fifth wicket alliance to deny England after their early strikes.
“It was pretty fun, always good batting with Ash, she keeps the game moving, pretty good seat up the other end. I was just trying to have some time in the middle, when you got in it was a really nice wicket.
“I know when I get in, I'll cash in on it, as I trust my game. Yeah, I did a bit of just trusting instincts. Tinkering with a few things mentally and trying to give myself the best chance early on in my innings,” she said.
England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt admitted that Sutherland and Gardner took the game away from them.
“With the lights coming on, I think the conditions did change a little bit, although I guess we bowled well in patches.
“But it just showed the partnership that Ash and Belsey had there, it just took the game away from us,” said Brunt.
Brunt also rued the fact that England could not put enough runs on the board.