Allround Ashleigh Gardner seals easy win with maiden WNCL ton

Ashleigh Gardner's innings of 136 runs - her maiden List A ton - proved too much for Queensland, as New South Wales romped home by 23 runs at the Manuka Oval in Canberra on Wednesday (January 22). Gardner also picked up three wickets to cap off what was a memorable day for her.

Opting to bat, the hosts' start was far from ideal as they lost the trio of Alyssa Healy (9) Rachael Haynes (18) and Naomi Stalenberg (0) inside 14 overs. With NSW struggling for momentum, Gardener walked in at number five and joined Tahlia Wilson in the middle. The pair shared a 112-run stand for the fourth wicket to provide their team with a solid base. After Wilson was dismissed in 34th over having scored a steady 51, Gardner decided it was time to lift the scoring rate.

As wickets continued to fall at the other end, the right hander teed off, crashing 13 fours and seven sixes on her way to a 108-ball 136. Her blitz meant NSW managed to finish with a total of 248 in 46.5 overs. Jess Jonassen, Jemma Barsby, Sammy-Jo Johnson and Georgia Prestwidge took two wickets apiece for Queensland.

Queensland's chase of 249 was also halted early when they lost Beth Mooney (19) and Jonassen (1) by the fifth over. Kirby Short (52) held one end up and strung together a partnership worth 60 runs with Georgia Redmayne (19).

With the visitors back on course at 93 for 2, NSW threw the ball to Gardner in search of a wicket. The off-spinner dislodged Redmayne before the pace duo of Hayley Silver-Holmes and Sarah Aley further set them back to 135 for 5.

Despite a couple of cameos in the back end of the innings - Delissa Kimmince with 35 and Jemma Barsby with 20 - Queensland were never able to fully recover from the poor start. Eventually, they folded for a total of 225, still 23 runs short of the set target.

For NSW, Asleigh Gardner added to her performance with the bat, finishing with figures of 3 for 37, while Farrell and Silver-Holmes took two wickets each.

Brief scores: New South Wales 248 in 46.5 overs (Ashleigh Gardner 136, Tahlia Wilson 51; Jess Jonassen 2-30, Georgia Prestwidge 2-36) beat Queensland 225 in 47.2 overs (Kirby Short 52, Delissa Kimmince 35; A Gardner 3-37, Hayley Silver Holmes 2-28)) by 23 runs.  PoM: Ashleigh Gardner.