Gardner provides update on Australia's injury concerns

Australia are on the brink of locking up a spot in the final four after their 98-run win over the Netherlands.

They remain unbeaten from three Women's T20 World Cup affairs to sit clear in Group A.

But concerns arose during their encounter with the Dutch as star keeper-batter Beth Mooney retired hurt on 74 from 42 balls with a back complaint.

It comes amid an ankle concern for Gardner, who was cleared to play against the Netherlands, and Phoebe Litchfield's quad issue suffered in their tournament opener against South Africa. Litchfield is aiming to make a return for the Aussies' blockbuster clash against India on June 28 at Lord's.

Mooney didn't take part in Australia's second innings, with fellow opener Georgia Voll taking the gloves. And despite Voll filling in admirably, the fitness of Mooney will be key to the Aussies securing a semi-final berth and re-claiming World Cup glory for the first time since 2023.

"Just precautionary for Moons," Gardner confirmed post-game.

"Obviously we have such a big tournament, two more huge round games, and then hopefully some finals. So yeah, don't want to push where we don't have to.

"And my ankle was good. Yeah, obviously made a full recovery to be able to be confident enough to play today. It's certainly still bruised. But that’s just the theatrics of it, but yeah, all is good."

Gardner clearly overcame her troublesome ankle, smashing 58 off 32 balls with nine boundaries, helping Australia notch a daunting total of 219/6 - an insurmountable target for the Netherlands.

Asked whether the side pays any notice of external speculation that the team has lost its heir of invincibility, Gardner dismissed the notion.

"It's certainly not language that we would ever use within our environment," she said.

"(The media) can talk about our team that way. We always come into these tournaments and there is an expectation that Australia should do well, but I think within our group at the moment, we're staying so present in what the moment is and taking the positives and the learnings out of each game, each training session, and focusing on that, controlling what we can control.

"We can't control what people say about us, but if we back our best cricket, we know that we can beat most teams. So I think just believing that is the biggest thing for us."

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