Gardner finds the tempo to set tone for summer ahead

Ashleigh Gardner hopes her blazing 84 in Tuesday's second T20I will set the tone for the coming months, as the Australia vice-captain looks ahead to a busy period in the shortest format.

Gardner contributed almost half of Australia's 7-167 against New Zealand in her 45-ball innings, with the allrounder the only batter from either side to get the measure of one of North Sydney Oval's trickier surfaces.

It was her highest T20I score since February 2020 and continued a strong run in the format dating back to the T20I World Cup in England in June and July. Across her past seven T20I innings Gardner has scored three half-centuries, averaging 64 with a strike rate of 174.

It's a promising run that followed a frustrating period in T20Is between the 2024 and 2026 ICC tournaments, where she played just five out of 12 matches, with three separate injuries curtailing her availability.

Gardner will be spending plenty of time at North Sydney Oval over the next six weeks as she enters her second season at the helm of the Sydney Sixers, while the 29-year-old will also have an eye on the upcoming Women's Premier League in India in January, which will serve as the ideal preparation for the T20 Champions Trophy, also in India, a month later.

"Cricket's such a confidence game, and just to spend some time out in the middle has given me a lot of confidence," Gardner told reporters following Australia's 40-run win. "Looking at this season ahead, I'm playing a lot of games here at North Sydney, so (it's good) to be able to familiarise myself with a venue that I've played a lot of cricket at, and to have some performances more recently going into the summer.

"Whenever I walk out onto the field for this team, I always want to put them in a winning position, and for me tonight, it was about being able to go big rather than just throw away the innings that I'd set up.

"I just felt like things were working today. I haven't batted that much recently, so just to spend some time out in the middle was really pivotal going ahead."

Gardner said she was growing more confident in handling the nuances of her No.5 role in Australia's T20I XI, where she may be called upon to play a rescue job, as was the case on Tuesday when she came to the middle in the seventh over with Australia 3-41, or come out late needing to make the maximum impact from few deliveries.

"I feel like this format is pretty fickle, and being able to come in the middle-order, I either come in three for not many, or three for heaps," she said.

"It's being able to be really adaptable to what the scenario is asking from you. Sometimes that's easier said than done, and I feel like I perform better when we're in a bit of trouble because I've got more time to bat.

"Where I feel like when I've lost my way a little bit, where we're three for heaps, I try and go too early and just throw away my wicket doing things that are probably are a little bit out of my realm.

"We genuinely bat down to 11 – that's probably the strongest batting XI that I've seen for a very long time ... having the confidence in everyone around you gives you that freedom to be able to play the way that you want to."

Gardner paced Tuesday's innings against the White Ferns to perfection, facing four balls before going after their best bowler in leg-spinner Amelia Kerr.

She then targeted off-spinner Nensi Patel, launching two enormous square sixes, and after bringing up her fifty from 29 deliveries, Gardner launched in the 19th over, hitting Jess Kerr for 20 runs off four balls.

"I think for me, it was just trying to be really positive with my feet," Gardner said. "I feel like when I get stuck at the crease against spin especially, that's when I go into my shell.

"When I'm really positive and proactive with my feet going at the bowlers, I feel like I get my weight through the ball a lot better.

"So for me it was just being able to do that early in my innings, get my feet going, and then being able to adjust to the slower balls, which were really effective tonight."

Gardner noted she had also evolved dramatically from the 19-year-old who announced herself on the WBBL stage at North Sydney Oval in 2017, scoring a then-record 114 from 52 deliveries.

She arrived on the international stage as a precocious power hitter, before her all-round evolution saw her off-spin become arguably the stronger and more reliable of her skills.

Over the past two years, Gardner's batting has again caught up – she scored three ODI tons in 2025 after cementing a middle-order spot, and her T20I batting has likewise flourished in 2026.  

"I think (I'm) maturing and growing as a cricketer ... probably seven years ago, I wanted to be that player that just hit sixes all the time, but that's not realistic in this game," Gardner said. "Bowlers have gotten a lot better, a lot smarter as well, and the skill is just amazing throughout world cricket.

"For me to try and stay up to that standard, I've definitely grown within that space as well. When you're seeing the ball well, you want to hit the ball really hard and clear the ropes, but (you have to give) credit to the bowlers when due, when they put when they bowl a good ball, making sure you respect that and get to the other end."

NRMA Insurance Women's T20 Series v New Zealand

First T20I: Australia won by two wickets

Second T20I: Australia won by 40 runs

Third T20I: Thursday, October 22

* All matches played at North Sydney Oval starting at 7:15pm AEDT

Australia T20I squad: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham 

New Zealand T20I squad: Melie Kerr (c), Eden Carson, Flora Devonshire, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Bree Illing, Polly Inglis (wk), Bella James, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Nensi Patel, Molly Penfold, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe, Izzy Sharp

All women's international matches will be shown live on Seven, 7Plus, Kayo Sports and Foxtel