Beth Mooney produced one of the best knocks of her career as Australia recovered from a precarious situation to defeat Pakistan by 107 runs in Colombo on Wednesday, October 8.
They were asked to bat first, but most of Australia’s big names once again failed to bat. For the second consecutive game in the ongoing World Cup, Australia endured a collapse in their batting line-up. Australia, who had dropped to 128/5 against New Zealand, were sluggish at 76/7 in 22 overs against Pakistan.
Captain Alyssa Healy looked on track, hitting three boundaries in quick succession before departing for 20 goals. Phoebe Litchfield (10 points), Ellyse Perry (5 points), Annabelle Sutherland (1 goal), Talia McGrath (5 points) and centurion Ashley Gardner (1 point) in the last game were also unable to score big as Australia were in all kinds of trouble.
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For Pakistan, the spinners did the damage. Nashra Sandhu took three wickets and Rameen Shamim took two wickets. Captain Fatima Sana also took two wickets.
Also read: ‘Abhishek Sharma won’t survive even a six ball from me’ – Pakistan pacer’s open challenge
Pakistan grabbed Australians by the neck.
At 78/7 Australia looked destined to be bowled out for a decent total. But Beth Mooney had other ideas. While most of her teammates struggled to come up to bat, she played the best knock in World Cup history and saved her team.
She scored 109 runs and Australia posted a challenging total of 221/9 with 50 overs remaining. She received good support from the likes of Kim Garth and Alana King. Mooney and Garth added 39 runs for 8 wickets to stop the rot. Garth only scored 11 points, but managed to play 47 pitches.
A decisive 106-run partnership between Mooney and King followed. Mooney was ejected and the partnership ended on the last pitch of the inning. Meanwhile, King remained unbeaten with 51 off 49 pitches.
The two upped the ante at the right time, pushing the team to more than 220 players total. King, who was batting on 16 off 34 balls at one stage, hit three sixes in just 46 balls to score his maiden ODI fifty. Australia ended the innings on a high note, scoring 53 runs in the last four overs.
Australia blows Pakistan away with the ball:
Although Australia were able to score 221 runs, Pakistan still had a chance to record their first win over Australia in the 50-over format. But it didn’t take long for Australia to dash those hopes. Garth and Megan Schutt blew away Pakistan’s top order in no time and the Women in Green were sitting at a sluggish 49/6 inside 13 overs.
In the end, he was bowled out for just 114 runs in 36.3 overs. Sidra Amin (35) was the only Pakistani batsman to cross the 20-run mark with the bat. For Australia, Garth took three wickets, while Schutt and Sutherland took two each.
Australia vs Pakistan match result
Australia 221 wins, 9 losses (50 overs): Beth Mooney 109 (114), Alana King 51* (49); Nashra Sandhu 3-37
Pakistan 114 (36.3 overs): Sidra Amin 35 (52); Kim Garth 3-14
result: Australia won by 107 points