Women's WT20 | Everyone had written us off but we showed character, gushes Ashleigh Gardner

Australia reached a record seventh Women's World T20 final on Thursday after defeating India by five runs in an intense affair at Newlands. The star for the side was Ashleigh Gardner who walked away with yet another player of the match award after blitzing 31 runs off 18 balls with the bat before returning figures of 2/37 in her four overs. However, the Women in Yellow were not always in control despite setting a massive target of 173 as opposition skipper Harmanpreet Kaur went berserk alongside Jemimah Rodrigues. The duo rescued the side from 28/3 to needing just 40 runs from 32 deliveries by the time both had departed but clinical death bowling, including just 10 runs in the last over by Gardner, was enough to clinch a positive result. 

India rued missed catches of skipper Meg Lanning and Beth Mooney as the visitors showcased the value of good fielding with some excellent boundary saves in crunch situations, including an incredible dive by Perry in the penultimate over of the game. 

"We have KPIs and there are markers that show us whether we're positive or negative in the field. So there's a pretty clear indication of how we've fielded. We just know how to push each other. In our training sessions, there are always really high-pressure situations, and as athletes, we all push each other - whether it's on the field or off the field, whether it's in the gym, or running. That's something we really pride ourselves on is being fit, being strong, and ultimately that's one of the things that has an impact in the field," she concluded on the matter.