The 27-year-old veteran all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner made her ODI debut on 2nd March 2017 in the 2nd ODI against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui. She has been struggling to find form with the bat in recent times for her side in the format.
Her struggles to get a big score continued in the first couple of ODIs in the ongoing ODI series against India, returning with scores of 8 and 0. However, she finally rose to the occasion, riding her rub of the green, to deliver her 6th ODI half-century (50 off 64 balls) under pressure.
Gardner joined Annabel Sutherland at the crease with the home side in trouble at 78/4 in the 17th over of the innings. The duo stitched a much-needed 96-run partnership for the 5th wicket to take their side close to the 180-run mark. Deepti Sharma picked up the wicket of Ashleigh Gardner as soon as she completed her half-century.
En route to her valuable half-century, Gardner achieved a special milestone as she completed 1,000 runs in the ODI format, when she pulled the ball to deep mid-wicket in the 2nd ball of the 27th over of the innings bowled by Deepti Sharma.
Gardner now has 1,031 runs at a strike rate of 109.33 and a decent average of 25.77 in 50 ODI innings with the bat for her side. Her best performance with the bat for her side came on 26th September 2021 in the 3rd ODI against India when she scored a brilliant half-century (67 off 62 balls) at Ray Mitchell Oval, Harrup Park, Mackay. Notably, she has been equally effective with the ball, picking 91 wickets from 67 innings, maintaining an economy rate of 4.15.
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