The Australian women's cricket conveyor belt of talent continued on Saturday as teenage debutant Annabel Sutherland almost snatched victory from England.
The daughter of former Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland and brother of Melbourne Renegades allrounder Will Sutherland enjoyed a stellar international Twenty20 debut.
Sutherland, 18, arrived at the crease with Australia needing 43 runs off 23 balls and she hit an unbeaten 22 off 11 balls to force a Super Over in Canberra.
England prevailed but Sutherland earned the respect of her teammates who will start the T20 World Cup as favourites this month.
"We seem to churn out all these teenagers who just have the skills from day one and walk out like they've been here for years and 'Bellsy' is no different," Australian star Beth Mooney said.
"Under pressure, needing 11 or 12 runs an over and she just made it look so easy. Not many people look like that in their whole career and she's done it from game one.
"We're in a really fortunate position in Australian cricket at the moment to be able to blood people like Bellsy and make sure they're ready to put pressure on the opposition like she did today.
"It was really impressive."
Sutherland said she's never felt much pressure in middle and just wanted to enjoy the moment with her parents in the stands.
"I backed my game and tried to go out there and do a job for the team. We couldn't quite get the job done but I really enjoyed it," Sutherland said.
"To get an opportunity that I didn't really expect was amazing and just really exciting. It was a dream come true.
"I was pretty nervous this morning but I just tried to back my game - it's just another cricket game in the end."
Australian Associated Press
