Ashleigh Gardner to miss remainder of New Zealand T20I series due to fractured finger

In an unfortunate turn of events, Australian all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner's right index finger injury has been confirmed to be a fracture, and this has ruled her out of the ongoing three-match T20I series between New Zealand and Australia.

New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first in the first T20I in Auckland on Friday, March 21. While bowling the 17th over of the New Zealand innings, Gardner sent in a flighted delivery to Sophie Devine, who went down the track and hit the ball back hard towards the off-spinner. Gardner got both her hands on the ball but could not manage to hold on. It was immediately evident that she had hurt herself. The physio assessed the injury before the 27-year-old walked off the field.

"She will have further scans and seek specialist advice on return to Sydney," a Cricket Australia statement on Saturday said.

Gardner did not return to bowl, finishing with figures of 0/14 in 2.2 overs. The update after the New Zealand innings was that Gardner had been taken for scans and wouldn't bat in Australia's chase. She was not required with the bat as Australia chased a 138-run target in the 14th over with eight wickets to spare. Openers Beth Mooney (75*) and Georgia Voll (50) scored half-centuries to make light work of the run-chase.

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Charli Knott, the 22-year-old uncapped batting all-rounder from Queensland, has been added to the squad for the two remaining matches in the series. She was a part of the Brisbane Heat side which reached the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) 2024 final. Knott scored 187 runs from 12 matches with the bat and picked up six wickets as well.

The second T20I is scheduled to be held in Mount Maunganui on Sunday (March 23) and the last one on Wednesday (March 26).