Irrepressible Beth Mooney overcomes odds to buoy Australia

At the DY Patil Stadium on Friday evening, the 28-year-old stamped her class with an unbeaten 89 off 57 deliveries to steer Australia to a nine-wicket victory against India.

Beth Mooney looked in fine touch during the first women’s T20I against India on Friday. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

After landing in India earlier this week, Beth Mooney had a few ‘pretty grim’ days. A stomach bug ruled her out of training sessions, and until Friday morning, she was unsure if she would be available for the first T20I against India women’s team.

But at the DY Patil Stadium on Friday evening, the 28-year-old stamped her class with an unbeaten 89 off 57 deliveries to steer Australia to a nine-wicket victory against the host. Chasing 172, Mooney struck 16 boundaries and, along the way, forged two crucial partnerships - a 73-run opening stand with Alyssa Healy, followed by an unbeaten 100-run stand with Tahlia McGrath.

When Mooney turned up for the media interaction after the match, she was sporting a smile. “We don’t need to go into the gory details, but there was a needle in my butt at 3am on Monday, so I wasn’t in a good way,” she said.

While her teammates were training regularly, Mooney had to consult the medical team. “They looked after me for a couple of days there when it was pretty grim…” she said.

She slowly recovered and even went sightseeing at the Gateway of India on the match day morning before travelling to the stadium for the game.

Once on the field, Mooney orchestrated Australia’s highest ever T20I chase. “I didn’t anticipate being out there for the whole 40 overs, but I managed to get enough sustenance in me today for the first time in a while, and I think that really helped,” Mooney said.

“I was sort of flagging towards the end there, I was begging TMac to hit a few boundaries, but I had just enough in the tank to get us over the line.”

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Mooney has an impressive track record against India - she averages 49.76 against the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side and has a strike rate of 126. And since her debut six years ago, she has always enjoyed batting against India, scoring 647 runs in 16 T20I innings.

“They’re a highly competitive and world-class outfit, and when we come up against them, we know it’s going to be a really tough fight, and that gets me into the contest a little bit more,” Mooney said.

“But pulling on the Australian shirt is a pretty big draw card to wanting to get in the contest, so it’s definitely not (just) India, I wish I could score runs against everyone…” she said.

Overcoming the odds, Mooney has started her campaign on a high, and when the two teams meet at the same venue on Sunday, Australia will be hoping for yet another Mooney magic.