Gardner upstages Devine as Australia kick off with a win

Two solo century acts lit up the Australia-New Zealand World Cup contest in Indore. It was Ashleigh Gardner's which proved to be the match-winning one, while Sophie Devine's effort went in vain, as defending champions Australia opened their campaign with an 89-run win.

Gardner rescued Australia from a precarious position, helping them recover from 128 for 5 to post 326, by smashing 115 off 83 balls. It was a total that required a record chase, with the highest ever chase in women's ODIs being 302. Devine was left to do the heavy-lifting after early wickets, but could not keep up with the scoreboard pressure. She finished with 111, her ninth century in ODIs, while New Zealand could only muster 237 in 43.2 overs.

Alyssa Healy and Phoebe Litchfield started positively after Australia opted to bat. Litchfield was particularly adept at using her feet, as she came down the track often to play her big shots. Even after Healy departed in the fifth over, Litchfield continued to pile on the runs in the company of Ellyse Perry, targeting the off side for her big hits.

Litchfield adjusted well to the lengths of the fast bowlers and began to place the ball in the gaps, looking on track for a big score after taking Australia to 81 for 1 at the end of the powerplay. But the introduction of Amelia Kerr in the ninth over turned the game. In the first ball of the over, she executed the perfect googly that pitched outside leg and turned into the left-handed Litchfield, who played down the wrong line and was bowled. The wicket was also Amelia's 100th in ODIs.

New Zealand put the squeeze on Australia after Litchfield's wicket, conceding just 20 runs between the 11th and 17th overs. Kerr particularly made run-scoring a task for the Australia batters, mixing googlies, flight and control during her spell. The experienced Lea Tahuhu triggered a mini collapse, starting with Perry's wicket in the 18th over. Annabel Sutherland was the next one to go in the following over, with Kerr having her caught at mid-on. Australia then lost their third wicket in the space of 24 balls, with Beth Mooney dismissed tamely for 12.

The rearguard for Australia came in the form of Gardner. She was aggressive from the start, getting off the mark with a punch over extra cover. Gardner took on the spinners and fast bowlers alike, particularly punishing them through the covers and down the ground. She stamped her authority as she danced down the track to hit Kerr for a six to bring her half-century off 43 balls.

Gardner did not take her foot off the gas even as wickets fell around her, hurrying to her century in the next 34 balls. She soaked in the applause of the 8900-strong crowd in Indore, hosting its first-ever women's ODI, as she celebrated her game-changing innings.

New Zealand's chase started chaotically, with Georgia Plimmer run out without facing a ball in the first over after a mix-up. Left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux, returning to ODIs for the first time since December 2024 after an injury layoff, was given the new ball with Kim Garth, and the move paid off. Molineux removed the experienced Suzie Bates for a duck in the second over to leave New Zealand in tatters.

New Zealand were 24 for 2 at the end of nine overs, but Kerr broke the pressure with a flurry of boundaries in the tenth over off Darcie Brown. But with Sutherland and Alana King bowling in tandem, Kerr toiled for her runs while Devine occasionally found the gaps. From 28 off 30 balls, Kerr laboured to 33 off 55 before being dismissed by King next ball.

The first six of New Zealand's innings came when Devine walked down to Gardner to pump her into the sightscreen, and soon brought up a 69-ball half-century. Brooke Halliday hit the second one, off King, and followed it up with a boundary, but King had the last laugh, dismissing her for 28.

The asking rate had ballooned to ten by then. With Australia's spinners making New Zealand work hard for the runs, Devine feasted on some wayward bowling from Brown in the 36th over, hitting her for four consecutive boundaries to move into the 90s. Brown had come into the XI in place of premier pacer Megan Schutt.

Despite New Zealand needing 107 off 54 balls and wickets falling around her, Devine kept a cool head and hit a six over deep midwicket to raise her century. But a triple-wicket 43rd over by Sutherland, in which she dismissed Devine, Jess Kerr and Eden Carson, all but quashed New Zealand's slim hopes. Molineux wrapped up New Zealand's innings in the following over to finish with 3 for 25 on her return.