MUMBAI:

Australia beat New Zealand by 89 runs to kickstart their Women's Cricket World Cup campaign on Wednesday in a one-sided affair between the two rivals.

Ashleigh Gardner starred for Australia with the bat, crafting a sparkling second ODI hundred as the White Ferns bled 326 runs -- the heaviest tally ever conceded in meetings between the sides.

The all-rounder produced a masterclass in rescue and destruction in compiling her 115 in Indore, first steadying the ship at 128-5 and then going hell for leather in the closing overs to help Australia set a daunting target.

Gardner, one of the few Indigenous Australians to don national colours, unfurled elegant cover drives and wristy flicks that split the field regularly.

Her innings wasn't all classy stroke-making, though, as Gardner sh

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