Ash Gardner hailed the hearty support of the Trent Bridge crowd, after her half-century wasn’t enough to prevent defeat to Northern Superchargers in front of a 10,000-strong crowd.
Gardner hit 61 from 32 balls as the Rockets recovered from 5/3 to post 128/8 from their 100 balls,but a Davina Perrin-inspired Superchargers overhauled their target for the loss of just two wickets.
Gardner has extensive experience of performing in front of the Trent Bridge faithful, having turned in a star performance as Australia won the Women’s Ashes Test.
“I love playing in front of the Trent Rockets supporters – it’s obviously a slightly different experience to being here with Aussie colours on!” she said.
“But it was really nice to have the support. You always know when you’re playing here that you’re going to get a really good crowd
“I’m thankful to the supporters for turning out, and hopefully next time we play here we can put a better performance on for them.”
Gardner led a recovery for the hosts, posting her highest individual score in The Hundred, and she admitted time wasn’t on her side as she helped the Rockets battle to a more competitive total.
“You don’t get the chance to play yourself in, in an innings like that,” she said.
“It’s more about getting the pace of the wicket really quickly. It is kind of a rebuild phase, but I looked to hit the sweepers hard and run really hard, and that naturally got me into the game.
“It’s really difficult to come back from a Powerplay like that.
“Once you’ve lost those wickets, that middle half seems tough, but we scored 70 off 50 balls, so to come back and swing back the momentum was really good.
“But in the end, we left our lower order to do a job they shouldn’t have to do.”
Gardner also reserved praise for a young gun from each side, with Superchargers’ Perrin ultimately making the decisive contribution with an unbeaten 72.
“Our first set (with the ball) was really good with Alexa Stonehouse, but credit to Perrin, who batted really well and stuck to her strengths,” she said.
“It’s a loss that’s going to hurt, but it’s allowed to hurt. I think there are still positives we can take from it, and plenty to work on going into the next game.”
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Trent Rockets return to Trent Bridge on three further occasions this summer, with a handful of seats remaining for their next clash against Southern Brave.