Colombo, Oct 9 Beth Mooney was the knight in shining armour for Australia as they crushed Pakistan with a fighting comeback in the ninth match of the ongoing Women’s World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, and the batter opened up about her mindset as she helped her side recover from a major scare.
Australia recovered brilliantly in the first innings against Pakistan as Mooney’s century, combined with Alana King’s half-century batting at No. 10, helped them get to 221/9 from what was 67/7 at one point in the game.
Mooney showcased why she and her team were the defending champions, and with her clutch knock, she also sent out a strong message to all other teams in the competition.
She explained that her remarkable knock was the result of a collaborative approach, including an intensive pre-game net session with assistant coach Dan Marsh. Speaking to the media after the game, Mooney remarked:
"I don't shy away from feedback as the game's going on. I think those games are really important to use the resources around you, so any opportunity I got to get a message, I think was really important given the context of the scenario.
"(Later) I was trying to find out at what point I could start being a little bit more expansive, just a number or an over that I could start playing a few more shots and a couple of other messages around certain bowlers and different plans to them.
"And thankfully, we've got excellent staff on the bench who I was asking a lot of questions of (and) some girls on the sidelines who unfortunately aren't in the XI but still playing a significant role in (offering) a voice and an ear to listen to when I was battling with different ideas in my head."
The first step was to drain Pakistan's energy and momentum, which the Aussies managed to do through Mooney and Garth’s 39-run eighth-wicket partnership over 12.3 overs.
The Victoria-born then carried on with a similar strategy early in her record 106-run ninth-wicket partnership with Alana King, before the duo accelerated in the final overs to take the score to 221/9 in 50 overs.
"It kind of helped having another job to do, which was to help Kim Garth and Alana King be really clear on their plans as well. So that got me out of my own head and what I needed to do.
"We obviously had a lot of time left in the game, so my mindset with Kim especially was we could take some time out of the game – we know that teams like Pakistan are front runners and when they're flying, they're up and about. If you get a little partnership going, they can get a little bit flat and you can open the game up that way," Mooney added.
Since Australia's game against Sri Lanka in the island nation was washed out on Saturday, their match against Pakistan was the first they played after arriving in the country a week ago.
It was also Mooney's first ODI innings in Sri Lanka, and only her second game in the country across any format, following a single T20I appearance at a different venue in Colombo in 2016.
Elaborating further on her knock, Mooney added:
"Certainly, there were moments when I thought I could take a bowler on and reverse sweep, ramp hit down the ground, that sort of thing, and they'd pop into my mind – albeit very briefly – and I'd have to park them pretty quickly and play the scenario in front of me.
"I knew we had a long time to bat, so we didn't have to do anything too rash, and we were still moving the scoreboard slightly – not probably as much as we're used to – but that scenario demanded that of us.
"And then the game opened up a little bit more for us as batters and we were able to score a little bit more freely. The time left in the game certainly helped with (not panicking)."
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