Ashleigh Gardner’s landmark a hundred and fiftieth Ladies’s Massive Bash League appearance was fittingly marked by a whole captain’s efficiency. On twelfth November 2026, on the Junction Oval in Melbourne, the 29-year-old Sydney Sixers skipper turned the eleventh participant general and the primary Sydney Sixers participant to succeed in 150 WBBL appearances. Leading her aspect towards Sophie Molineux’s Melbourne Renegades within the twentieth match of the twelfth version of the event, Gardner contributed with bat and ball because the Sixers secured an 11-run win, their fifth consecutive victory of the campaign.
Gardner won the toss and selected to bat first. Sydney Sixers posted 140/6 of their 20 overs, with Amelia Kerr top-scoring by means of a brilliant 53 off 34 balls, while Ellyse Perry added a gentle 30 from 41 deliveries. Gardner, batting at quantity three, made 22 from 21 balls, putting two boundaries. The Renegades were then restricted to 129 all out, handing the Sixers an 11-run triumph and increasing their profitable streak to 5 matches. With 10 points from five video games, Sydney Sixers retained second place on the points table, behind the Perth Scorchers solely on internet run price. Kerr’s all-round show earned her the Participant of the Match award.
For Gardner, although, the occasion carried deeper significance. Her WBBL journey began on twelfth December 2015, when she debuted for the Sydney Sixers towards the Perth Scorchers in Perth. More than a decade later, she remains one of solely two gamers, alongside former skipper Ellyse Perry, to have represented the Sixers in each version since the event’s inaugural season in 2015. Having succeeded Perry because the membership’s captain from the previous version, Gardner has grow to be each the face and the driving force of a franchise with a rich WBBL legacy.
The Sydney Sixers have won two WBBL titles, within the second version in 2016-17 and the third in 2017-18, becoming the primary team to successfully defend the title. They’ve additionally finished runners-up within the inaugural 2015-16 season, the fourth version in 2018-19, and the eighth version in 2022. Gardner’s longevity, consistency, and management have been central to that sustained identity.
Ash Gardner’s Sydney Sixers Numbers
Her numbers for the Sixers underline why the milestone feels so deserved. Across 150 matches, Gardner has scored 2,996 runs at a mean of twenty-two.87 and a strike price of 123.95 in 143 innings, together with 15 half-centuries and two centuries. Only Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy have scored more runs for the franchise. With the ball, she is the Sixers’ main wicket-taker, with 132 wickets at a mean of 21.23 and an economic system price of seven.20 in 128 innings, alongside six four-wicket hauls and one five-wicket haul.
Her most interesting batting efficiency came solely days earlier than this milestone. On 1st November 2026, towards defending champions Hobart Hurricanes at Sydney, Gardner struck a sensational 124 off 60 balls from quantity four. Coming in with the Sixers in serious trouble at 2/2 within the second over, she partnered Alice Capsey, who made an unbeaten 54 from 40 balls, in a 176-run fourth-wicket stand. It was the very best fourth-wicket partnership in WBBL history and the second-highest partnership for any wicket within the event.
Gardner’s innings, laced with 10 boundaries and nine sixes, powered Sydney Sixers to 196/8 earlier than they bowled the Hurricanes out for 109, profitable by 87 runs, the second-biggest victory by runs in WBBL history. That knock additionally made Gardner the very best individual scorer by a captain in WBBL history, surpassing former New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter and Hobart Hurricanes skipper Rachel Priest’s unbeaten 107 off 68 balls towards Melbourne Stars in Hobart through the 2021 version. Gardner additionally took 3/23 in that match and was named Participant of the Match.
Her bowling pedigree is equally impressive. Her best figures for the Sixers came on 9th November 2025 towards Perth Scorchers on the WACA, the place she claimed 5/15 from four overs as Perth were dismissed for 109. Sydney Sixers chased the goal without loss, reaching 112/0 in 12.5 overs for a 10-wicket win. Across the eighth and ninth editions in 2022 and 2023, Gardner took a mixed 44 wickets in 29 innings, together with three four-wicket hauls.
Ash Gardner’s WBBL 12 Season
In the ongoing twelfth version, which runs from 29th October to fifth December 2026, Gardner has been outstanding. She leads the event’s wicket-taking charts with 11 wickets at a mean of 12.27 and an economic system of 8.43 in five matches. With the bat, she is the Sixers’ main run-scorer and the event’s second-highest run-scorer, with 246 runs at a strike price of 184.96 and a mean of 61.50, together with a half-century and a century.
Against the Renegades, Gardner once more showcased her all-round value, returning figures of three/13 from three overs. She eliminated Georgia Wareham for 17, Chloe Tryon for a duck, and Deandra Dottin for 4, applying sustained pressure through the chase. It was a fitting technique to rejoice 150 appearances: not merely by reaching the quantity, but by shaping the result.
Sydney Sixers will now meet Melbourne Renegades once more on 15th November 2026 at North Sydney Oval within the 23rd match of the event, beginning at 5:30 AM IST. For Gardner, the next chapter of a outstanding WBBL story is already nicely underway.
I’m Yash Tailor, and I imagine work ought to be driven by passion. Subsequently, after finishing my Engineering, I selected to work within the Cricket industry, my passion. My goal is to succeed in a stage the place I truly enjoy what I do and give my best to each task with power and function.
Source: femalecricket.com
