Gardner ruled out of New Zealand tour, Knott called in

Ashleigh Gardner has been ruled out of the remainder of Australia's T20I tour of New Zealand with a finger injury, with uncapped Brisbane Heat and Queensland allrounder Charli Knott called in as cover.

Gardner immediately left the field after she was struck on the right index finger while attempting to hang onto a powerfully struck return catch from Sophie Devine during the 17th over of Friday's first T20I in Auckland.

00:25 Play video Gardner leaves field following finger blow

The allrounder was taken for scans, which confirmed she had fractured her right index finger. Gardner will have further scans and seek specialist advice upon her return to Sydney.

Gardner had been serving as vice-captain to Tahlia McGrath on this tour, with the deputy for Sunday's second T20I yet to be confirmed.

Fellow off-spin bowling allrounder Knott has been called into an Australia squad for the first time following a standout summer with bat and ball.

The 22-year-old was the fourth highest run-scorer in the 2024-25 Women's National Cricket League season, scoring 542 runs at 54.2 batting at No.3, including her first WNCL century – a match-winning 110 against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval – alongside knocks of 87no, 79no, 62 and 58.

No Queensland player has scored more runs in a single WNCL season, and she was just the second Fire player after Georgia Redmayne to pass the 500-run mark.

She backed up her batting form with 12 wickets at 28.66, completing her strongest all-round season in the domestic one-day tournament yet.

It followed a Weber WBBL|10 campaign where Knott scored 187 runs and picked up six wickets playing for Brisbane Heat.

Those performances saw Knott named in the Australia A squad to play England A for the multi-format series starting in Sydney next week, with the right-hander to now rejoin that 'A' group following Wednesday's third T20I against New Zealand in Wellington.

The second T20I will be played at Tauranga's Bay Oval on Sunday, with Knott due to join the Australian squad on Saturday.

Alana King is the likely replacement for Gardner in the Australia XI, after the leg-spinner was a surprise omission for Friday's series opener following her starring show in the multi-format Ashes.

Knott will join Nicole Faltum was the two uncapped players in the Australia squad.

Australia will look to seal a series victory in Sunday's second T20I after thrashing the White Ferns by eight wickets in the opener.

Speaking after her match-winning 75 not out, opener Beth Mooney said there was still room for improvement.

"I think if we're being really critical, we probably let a few runs go at the back end in the field, just a few uncharacteristic misfields and things like that," Mooney said.

"(We were) getting used to the conditions, not having played here might have been a bit of a factor, but we love playing at Mount Maunganui, so that'll be a really a fun ground to play at."

CommBank T20I tour of New Zealand

Australia T20 squad: Tahlia McGrath (c), Darcie Brown, Nicole Faltum, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Charli Knott, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

New Zealand T20 squad: Suzie Bates (c), Eden Carson, Sophie Devine, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Polly Inglis, Bella James, Fran Jonas, Jess Kerr, Melie Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Georgia Plimmer, Lea Tahuhu

First T20 | Australia won by eight wickets

Second T20 | March 23: Bay Oval, Tauranga

Third T20 | March 26: Sky Stadium, Wellington

All games start at 12.45pm AEDT, 2.45pm NZDT and will be broadcast live on Foxtel and Kayo Sports

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