Scary how good Sutherland will be: Gardner

Ashleigh Gardner says it is "pretty scary to think how good" Annabel Sutherland is going to be in the future, following the allrounder’s match-winning century against India.

Sutherland rescued Australia from 4-78 at the WACA Ground, scoring 105 from 95 deliveries in blistering 40-degree heat – conditions so hostile, teams were forced to take an extended 10-minute drinks break where players retreated into their dressing rooms for respite.

The Victorian then backed it up with the ball, sending down nine overs and claiming the wicket of India captain Harmanpreet Kaur in Australia’s eventual 83-run win.

"She's a serious athlete … it's just a testament to how hard she works," Gardner said of Sutherland’s ability to perform with bat and ball in difficult conditions.

"She's one of those players that's probably the last at every training session, so it’s no surprise that she's able to do that in those tough conditions.

"When we played the Test match here (in February), she made 200 and that was in 35-plus (degrees) as well.

"I think she really relishes in the environment when there's a little bit of pressure on for the team and we saw today that she really stood up in those moments.

"She's a serious player, it's pretty scary the how good she's going to get in the future."

Gardner shared a 96-run fifth-wicket stand with Sutherland, and was able to find form of her own with the bat following a difficult T20 World Cup and Weber WBBL|10, where she hit 134 runs at an average of 12.18 and a strike rate of 93.7 in 13 innings across the two tournaments.

The right-hander was dismissed for eight and 0 in the opening two games of the series, and was granted two early reprieves on Wednesday via a dropped catch and an overturned lbw call.

But Gardner dug in in the face of India destroyer Arundhati Reddy, who tore through Australia’s top four, then worked her way to 50 from 64 deliveries.

She then backed it up with the ball, securing the key wicket of century-maker Smriti Mandhana with her off-spin before cleaning up the lower order to finish with a career-best 5-30.

"It's one of those things, you feel really confident the nets, but then it kind of doesn't replicate in the middle sometimes," Gardner said.

"I'd faced eight balls in the series before this game, so I knew that I just had to spend a little bit of time out in the middle.

"I came in at a pretty tough time but I just love batting with Bels (Sutherland), and especially here on the WACA she's got a pretty good record.

"Just the language that's used between us, it's always really positive, always just keeps each other going in those moments and knowing that if we just got through that tough little phase, that it would be fine.

"That's the messaging that I just tried to keep telling myself when I was probably going at a 30 strike rate, but I knew that if I faced another 20 balls, I was going to be in and then I could actually take it to the Indian bowlers ... so for me, it was just trying to stay really positive and take a lot of confidence out of that."

Gardner was named Australia vice-captain for the three-game series against India, deputising for Tahlia McGrath who was standing in for injured skipper Alyssa Healy.

Healy is poised to return to the Australia squad for next week’s one-day series in New Zealand, but Gardner said she had lapped up the leadership opportunity against India.

"I think T-Mac and I work really well together," she said.

"We're very different personalities, but I think we complement each other in that way as well.

"She's a very cool, calm person and what I challenged her with the side of the tour was to try and think outside the box.

"That's what I tried to throw to her, just different ideas at different points to just get her mind ticking over as well.

"I think she's someone who makes really good decisions under pressure and that's what you want in a captain, is someone that can be really reliant and just be really level in those moments as well, which T-Mac certainly brings, and then hopefully I can just bring a little bit of spice on the side as well."

Commbank Women's ODI series v India

Australia squad: Tahlia McGrath (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Darcie Brown, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Uma Chetry, Harleen Deol, Richa Ghosh (wk), Tejal Hasabnis, Minnu Mani, Priya Mishra, Priya Punia, Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Titas Sadhu, Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh Thakur, Saima Thakor, Radha Yadav

First ODI: Australia won by five wickets

Second ODI: Australia won by 122 runs

Third ODI: Australia won by 83 runs