Strength in depth keeps Australia on course for T20 World Cup title defence

A shleigh Gardner picked up a career-best, player-of-the-atch 5-15 against New Zealand after making just three with the bat during the group-stage fixture of the ongoing T20 World Cup. Georgia Wareham hadn’t played any international cricket in nearly 16 months but dealt Bangladesh a body blow with her match-winning 3-20 upon slotting back into Australia’s XI.

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Alyssa Healy had been on the sidelines with a weeks-long calf injury but struck vital fifties in two of her first three innings after returning to the line-up. Grace Harris’s tone-setting 3-0-7-2 – her best T20I figures – against Sri Lanka was only the second instance she had bowled for Australia since coming back into the side a year ago after a six-year hiatus.Tahlia McGrath hadn’t considered herself any more than a “specialist fielder” through the best part of the tour until her decisive 33-ball 57 against South Africa sealed Australia’s semi-finals berth.To understand Australia’s enviable depth, one has to understand these numbers as much as the context out of which they are born. Few teams across cricket can rival the vastness of the title favourites’ playing resources and fewer can find match-winners in the way the defending champions have.As they gear up to take on India in the semi-final at Newlands on Thursday, the quality of their XI, as much as that of the reserves, explains why depth remains the most potent weapon in Australia’s arsenal. “That’s absolutely our biggest strength – that we’ve got so many options,” McGrath, the player of the match in Australia’s fourth and final group-stage