Ashleigh Gardner is relishing a return to the ground where she “got the monkey off” her back last summer, as she looks to make her mark with bat and ball in the remaining two one-dayers against India.
The Australian squad got their first look at Bellerive Oval on Thursday afternoon, ahead of Friday’s second one-dayer.
The picturesque Hobart ground was the scene of a breakthrough moment in the 28-year-old’s career last January, when Gardner struck her first international century during the Ashes.
It sparked a new level in the allrounder’s game, as she went on to add another two ODI tons to her tally during the World Cup in India.
Thirteen months on, Gardner is the world’s third-ranked ODI batter and top-ranked ODI allrounder.
“Ticking off that milestone that I hadn’t reached – after doing that, I almost felt like it was a monkey off the back moment,” Gardner told reporters in Hobart on Thursday.
“It gave me a little bit of relief in terms of ticking off that milestone.
“This place is always really nice to bat, so making sure that if you get in, you’re going big.
“We always speak about building partnerships, and certainly on a ground that is favourable for batting, making sure that if you get in a partnership, to really go big.
“If that happens tomorrow, great, and hopefully we get off to a good start, and I can come out later in the innings and try and finish it off.”
Gardner’s Ashes hundred rescued Australia from deep trouble, as she took them from 4-59 in the 15th over to an eventual 8-308.
Her run-a-ball 102 bettered her previous career best of 74, and etched her name into the history books, as she became the first Aboriginal woman to hit an international century, and the first woman to hit an ODI hundred batting at No.6.
Looking ahead to the upcoming pair of matches at Bellerive Oval, Gardner said Australia would have a similar sort of total in mind if batting first.
“The last 50-over game that we played down here, we batted first … we’re always striving to score 300-plus in this format of the game, and that’s going to look different at each venue,” she said.
“Whether you get off to an absolute flyer and you can keep the momentum going, or the first 10 can be tricky sometimes, and you’ve got to finish off really well.
“But I think it’s just being able to assess the conditions really quickly. We’re always striving to score as many runs as possible and there’s no real ceilings for this team.”
Another player with happy memories of Bellerive Oval is India run machine Smriti Mandhana.
When India last played international matches in Hobart in 2016, a then-19-year-old Mandhana struck a breakthrough first international century.
The elegant opening batter has continued her dominance over the Australian attack in this multi-format series, backing up her 82 in the third T20I with 58 in the opening one-dayer.
In all, she is averaging 77 from six 50-over innings against the Aussies across the last five months.
“She likes (taking on the) Aussies whenever she plays, whether it’s in India or in Australia,” India allrounder Deepti Sharma told reporters on Friday.
“She’s a fabulous player. She doesn’t think about who is bowling … she always focuses on how she’s adapting to the situation, and she’s always focusing to scoring runs.”
NRMA Insurance Australia v India Multi-Format Series
The multi-format series is tied 4-4
First T20I: India won by 21 runs (DLS)
Second T20I: Australia won by 19 runs
Third T20I: India won by 17 runs
Australia ODI squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Sophie Molineux (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
India ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Kashvee Gautam, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Uma Chetry, Harleen Deol, Pratika Rawal
February 24: Australia won by six wickets
February 27: Second ODI, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT
March 1: Third ODI, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT
Australia Test squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Sophie Molineux (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
India Test squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh, Sneh Rana, Amanjot Kaur, Uma Chetry, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Kranti Gaud, Vaishnavi Sharma, Sayali Satghare
March 6-9: Test match, WACA Ground, 4:20pm AEDT (D/N)
