Sutherland finished unbeaten on 137 on Friday as Australia finished their first innings on 473 – and she wasn’t finished, then making the early breakthrough as England hit back to go to tea on day two at 1-68.
After helping Australia stabilise from a minor collapse of 3-12 on Thursday evening, Sutherland made it her day on Friday at Trent Bridge.
She hit 16 boundaries in her knock and one big six, when she took on England’s star spinner Sophie Ecclestone late in the innings and hit her over the legside.
At age 21, Sutherland is the youngest Australian since Belinda Clark in 1991 to score a Test century.
But no Australian or Englishwoman has done it at such a young age in an Ashes Test match.
Sutherland’s hundred was also the fastest by an Australian in women’s Test history, and the first three-figure score by a player walking out at No.8.
There is no doubt Sutherland is capable of batting higher than that, with the knock her second century in a row after also scoring 116 in a warm-up match against England A.
It also continues a golden 12 months for the Victorian, who hit back-to-back centuries in the Women’s National Cricket League last summer.
Appearing in control from the moment she walked to the crease on Thursday, Sutherland handled Ecclestone superbly.
While Ecclestone finished with figures of 5-129 and produced the ball of the innings to bowl Tahlia McGrath on day one, Sutherland rarely looked troubled.
The only chance she offered before lunch came immediately after passing 100, when she slashed hard at a Lauren Filer ball outside off and narrowly evaded Heather Knight in the slips.
Sutherland could also thank debutant No.10 Kim Garth for helping her get there, fighting through 76 balls for her 22 and forming a 95-run partnership with Sutherland.
Her runs came after Ellyse Perry laid the foundation for Australia on day one, before being caught in the gully on 99 and just shy of a third Test century.
Sutherland then did the job with the ball early in Australia’s innings, drawing Emma Lamb’s edge and having her caught at slip on 10.
She sent down 13 dot balls before England were able to score off her, when Tammy Beaumont hit a flurry of boundaries on her way to 41 not out at tea.
A win in the five-day women’s Test would push Australia towards retention of the women’s Ashes, with the match worth four points before three ODIs and three T20s each worth two.