Women’s World Cup 2025: Deconstructing Mad-eye Mooney’s rescue job against Pakistan

Beth Mooney is a paradox. For someone who can handle the fire of the most impossible situations, she struggles remarkably with actual heat and humidity.

The Australian batting mainstay produced a masterclass for the ages, rescuing her side from 76 for seven to 221 for nine with a quintessentially “boring” century against Pakistan at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday. Batting for nearly three hours, Mooney took charge for 42 overs in an innings Pakistan wicketkeeper Sidra Nawaz called “chanceless.”

“If she had offered a chance and we missed it, then it would have made sense — but she didn’t give us any,” Nawaz said after the game. Mooney’s only real “mistake” came off the final ball of the innings, when she chased a short delivery and picked out the fielder at cover.

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The physical toll of that knock showed immediately. As soon as she returned to the pavilion, Mooney bolted for relief from the stifling conditions.

“I was typically dying when I got back into the changing room after the innings break. I dunked my head into ice water, changed all my clothes and sat in the air-con before it was time to go again.”

Throughout the innings, Mooney’s “park the bus” approach was aided by constant sideline messages ferried in by teammates. When Kim Garth, who had held one end down for 47 balls, was dealing with an lbw appeal in the 23rd over, Mooney had already dashed to the boundary ropes to consult the coaches.

“A couple of things,” Mooney said later. “Trying to find out at what point I could start being a little bit more expansive. At that point, there were maybe 15 overs left, so I was looking for an over where I could play a few more shots. There were also a couple of messages around certain bowlers and different plans.

“It’s really nice to have Dan Marsh and Shelley Nitschke on the sidelines, and Scott Prestwidge and Gav Twining, who’ve played a lot of cricket. They know their stuff. I don’t shy away from feedback during games. Any opportunity to get a message across is important in the context of the match.”

After carrying Australia to a respectable total, Mooney had 36 overs of Pakistan’s reply to mull over what might have been done differently.

“Honestly, I was thinking how much my feet hurt at one point. We scored pretty freely towards the very end, and I did wonder if we could have done that a bit earlier. But 220 turned out to be more than enough. It’s hard to look back and wonder if I should have played differently when the game panned out how it did. That said, I’m mentally a bit fried now, having spent so much time in my head. Just pleased we got over the line — the bowlers backed up the batting unit.”

Mooney had trained specifically for the slow, low conditions at the Premadasa. This was her first match in any format at the venue, having only played two T20Is at the Sinhalese Sports Club five kilometres away.

“The Pakistan bowlers obviously bowled really well and spun the ball. Some didn’t turn. But we had to grind for that one. A lot of the conversations were about what my method was going to be against some of the subcontinent teams. For me, it was about sitting deep in my crease and hitting the ball as late as I could.”

Her preparation with Dan Marsh had sharpened that method.

“My approach in the nets was to really commit — if I was going to come out and hit down the ground, then do it as hard as I could, or else sit deep and hit just as hard. Thankfully, that worked tonight. The fuller ones weren’t coming on as nicely when played out in front. You’ve got to be agile in that mindset, but being clinical and concise with your footwork helps.”

With seven wickets gone inside the PowerPlay, Mooney slowed the game’s tempo, turning herself into a roadblock for anything Pakistan threw at her.

“We knew we had plenty of time left. Teams like Pakistan are front-runners when they’re flying, but if you get a small partnership going, they can flatten out. That’s how you open up the game. I knew we didn’t have to do anything rash. We kept the scoreboard ticking, not as much as we’d like, but enough. As the innings went on, it opened up a little more. Having time on our side certainly helped reduce panic.”

An understandably relieved Alyssa Healy led the praise.

“I’ve seen her bat a lot throughout my career, but that’s hands down one of the best innings I’ve seen. At one point, we’d have taken 150 or 160 and tried to defend that. So to get over 200 was a huge effort from her and Kingy at the back end.”

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Even on her best days, Mooney goes about her business with almost no emotion. This match — with Australia on the ropes — was no exception. Her subdued celebration after reaching three figures said it all, though it didn’t sit well with her partner Alana King, who urged her to loosen up.

Australia now heads to Visakhapatnam to face India, carrying with it a reminder that even the strongest sides can be shaken. More importantly, games like this hint at a shrinking gap between teams.

“I don’t know. We were seven for 79 against Pakistan, weren’t we? I’ve been around the international scene a while now, and I think teams like Pakistan and Sri Lanka have their weapons. I don’t think the gulf is as big as people assume.

“The ODI Championship helps — bilateral series expose us to different types of bowlers and give them chances against our batters. Ten years ago, this might not have happened to an Australian team. The global development of the game has been huge, and there are teams out there now that can beat anyone.”

Published on Oct 09, 2025