Annabel Sutherland stars with bat and ball in final T20 World Cup warm-up win

All-rounders are like gold in T20 cricket and among Australia’s list of them at the World Cup is a world class youngster showing what she can do.

Australian all-round gun Annabel Sutherland could just yet prove to be her team’s most important player in the campaign for a fourth consecutive T20 World Cup.

All-rounders are weapons in the shortest form of the game and her 2-2 with the ball, having made 38 off 28 balls with two sixes in the final warm-up match against the West Indies, was indicative of the qualities with bat and ball the 22-year-old star possesses.

The Aussies were 5-55 batting first when Sutherland, who can bat anywhere, came in at No.8 as the reigning champions continue to adjust to the conditions in the United Arab Emirates, with temperatures to hit 37C on Saturday when they open their campaign against Sri Lanka.

Batting with fellow all-rounder Ash Gardner, the pair put on 56 in quick time to rescue the innings, but it was with the ball Sutherland and her teammates flexed their muscle.

Spinner Alana King took 4-30 and speedster Tayla Vlaeminck took 3-33 as the Windies crumbled, losing 8-17 in an unsuccessful run chase, a warning that the Australians mean business ahead of Saturday’s opening clash with Sri Lanka in Dubai.

Annabel Sutherland is such a weapon for Australia. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images)

Sutherland was named player in the tournament at The Hundred in England in the lead-up to the World Cup, having signed a monster $364,000 deal with the Delhi Capitals to play in the Women’s Premier League, underlining her status as a world-class star.

Having not made the team for the final in Australia’s T20 World Cup triumph in 2023, Sutherland has become a must-pick player in the quest for four in a row.

The fact Sutherland, who has a Test double century to her name, can bat at No.8 is more evidence of what she called “ridiculous” depth in the squad.

Having missed out with the bat in the lead-in series against New Zealand, Sutherland was happy to get a taste of the slower wickets that will be expected throughout the tournament.

“The conditions was a big one,” she said.

“And that sharing of information and learning to adapt – we’re in new conditions that we haven’t really played in as a group before.

“Any time in the middle is valuable and I try and take my opportunity where I can.

“It was really nice to bat with Ash and put a partnership together in a crucial little moment and then to see the lower order dig in and scrap to a bit of a total that we thought we could defend was nice.”

The Aussies will play their opening match in Sharjah but won’t even see the wicket they will be playing on until they arrive for the match around lunchtime on Saturday.

 

Originally published as Annabel Sutherland stars with bat and ball in final T20 World Cup warm-up win