Australia’s batters have scored more centuries at this ODI World Cup than they have at any previous edition, with a chance to enter unchartered territory in their final round game against South Africa on Saturday.
Ashleigh Gardner’s unbeaten 104 was Australia’s fifth hundred in as many matches this tournament – and they almost had a sixth, with Annabel Sutherland falling just short of triple figures on 98 not out.
It means with at least two games to go – the showdown with the in-form Proteas in Indore plus a semi-final next week – Australia have already equalled the record for most centuries in a tournament, held by the England teams of 1993 and 2017.
In Australia in 1993, England’s tons were struck by Jan Brittin (2), Carole Hodges (2) and Helen Plimmer, while in the UK in 2017 it was Tammy Beaumont, Heather Knight, Natalie Sciver-Brunt and Sarah Taylor.
In India and Sri Lanka this tournament, Gardner set the tone for Australia with an 83-ball 115 from No.6 that steered her team from a tricky position against New Zealand to an eventual total of 326.
Then came Beth Mooney’s rescue job at No.4 against Pakistan, as she pulled the Aussies from the mire at 7-76 to a defendable 9-221 via her 109 off 114.
Alyssa Healy’s twin centuries against India and Bangladesh were brutal hitting displays at the top of the order, with her 106-ball 142 laying the foundation for a world record chase of 331 before she hit 113no off 77 as Australia romped to a 10-wicket win over the Tigresses.
Healy also tonned up twice at the 2022 World Cup in New Zealand, a tournament where Australia produced four hundreds, with Meg Lanning (135no v South Africa) and Rachael Haynes (130 v England) also went big.
Asked if cashing in on solid starts had been a specific focus leading into this tournament, Sutherland said there had been an emphasis on partnerships, rather than personal milestones.
“It’s important in one-day cricket,” Sutherland said following Australia’s win over England on Wednesday.
“I think we more talk about the partnerships, how important they are in swinging the momentum and I think that really showed (against England).
“I mean you look at England’s innings, the wickets throughout stole their momentum and we were able to just keep batting.
That’s something we really talk about.”
That focus on partnerships has seen Australia re-write the record books in that department, too.
Mooney’s 106-run stand with Alana King against Pakistan was the highest ninth-wicket partnership in women’s ODI history, while against Bangladesh, Healy joined with opening partner Phoebe Litchfield to chase 199 without losing a wicket, in the fourth highest opening stand by any team at a women’s ODI World Cup.
On Wednesday, Gardner and Sutherland’s unbroken 180-run fifth-wicket partnership was Australia’s second highest stand for any wicket in ODIs against England, behind Meg Lanning and Rachael Haynes’ 196 in 2022.
“We genuinely bat down to number 10 … that gives you a lot of freedom, and I like having that flexibility, knowing that yes, of course, I want to come in at four for heaps, but if I do come in when we’re under the pump, I can really utilise my person down the other end,” Gardner said of her approach to partnerships.
“That’s what we’ve done in the past, (Sutherland) and I have shared quite a few partnerships now, and it’s always a lot of fun, because we just bounce ideas of each other, play a pretty similar style of cricket.”
Australia centuries at Women’s ODI World Cups
1988: Lindsay Reeler (143* v Netherlands, 108* v New Zealand), Ruth Buckstein (100 v Netherlands, 105* v Netherlands)
1997: Belinda Clark (229* v Denmark)
2000: Karen Rolton (154* v Sri Lanka, 107* v South Africa)
2005: Lisa Keightley (103 v South Africa), Karen Rolton (107* v India)
2013: Meg Lanning (112 v New Zealand)
2017: Nicole Bolton (107* v West Indies), Meg Lanning (152* v Sri Lanka)
2022: Rachael Haynes (130 v England), Meg Lanning (135* v South Africa), Alyssa Healy (129 v West Indies, 170 v England)
2025: Ashleigh Gardner (115 v New Zealand, 104* v England), Beth Mooney (109 v Pakistan) Alyssa Healy (142 v India, 113* v Bangladesh)
* No Australian batter scored a century at the 1973, 1978, 1982, 1993, 2009 World Cups
2025 Women’s ODI World Cup
Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
Australia’s group stage matches
October 1: Australia beat New Zealand by 89 runs
October 4: v Sri Lanka: Abandoned without a ball bowled
October 8: Australia beat Pakistan by 107 runs
October 12: Australia beat India by 3 wickets
October 16: Australia beat Bangladesh by 10 wickets
October 22: Australia beat England by 6 wickets
October 25: v South Africa, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8:30pm AEDT
Finals
Semi-final 1: Guwahati, October 29, 8:30pm AEDT
Semi-final 2: Mumbai, October 30, 8:30pm AEDT
Final: Mumbai, November 2, 8:30pm AEDT
All matches to be broadcast exclusively live and free on Prime Video.
