‘I don’t know if there’s such thing as cracking the code in cricket.’
Beth Mooney says the Australians are pleased at the position they have got themselves into at the Women’s T20 World Cup, even if there’s room for improvement.
The 60-run win over New Zealand in their second match was, she agreed, “not far off the most complete performance Australia has put together the last little while”, but said there was still work to be done.
“If we’re being really critical, we probably missed out on a few on the back end, but it’s really pleasing the spot that we’ve got ourselves into in this tournament,” Mooney said.
Few are in a better spot than the opener, who followed up 43 in the first-up win over Sri Lanka with 40 in the drubbing of New Zealand.
The only batter to pass 30 in either match, she feels she has adapted well to the alien conditions, though she cautioned against the suggestion Australia had “cracked the code” of the slow Sharjah wickets.
Australian players celebrate taking another New Zealand wicket in Sharjah, that of Brooke Halliday. Credit: AAP
“I don’t know if there’s such thing as cracking the code in cricket. There’s always a tough game out there, especially in this format,” the 30-year-old Victorian said.
“It is very different to conditions back home, and a bit of a hard slog at times, with the slow outfield, big boundaries and slow wicket.
“We’re going to have to dig deep with the bat and try to find a way to score runs. Sometimes that’s going to look pretty ugly and sometimes it’s going to be OK.
“You’ve got to really be composed at the crease, make good decisions and be clear on what options you have and where to hit what bowlers. I felt like I was pretty clear on that (against New Zealand).
“There’s going to be different challenges thrown at us and we’re just going to have to adjust.
“We adjusted tonight to these conditions, and we’re going to have to do that again at Dubai on Friday night when we play Pakistan (Saturday 1am AEDT).”
Mooney paid tribute to Megan Schutt, who has the extraordinary figures of 6-15 off 7.2 overs so far in the tournament, and Annabel Sutherland, who took 3-21 against New Zealand.
“Seeing the likes of Megan and Bellsy (Sutherland) being able to have that impact as pace bowlers in conditions that perhaps aren’t as suited to them has been really impressive,’‘ Mooney said.
“Megan Schutt has been outstanding for us, not just in the last two games, but throughout her whole career. I think she’s in a really good place with her career as well.
“I think she’s really enjoying it, and knows the impact that she can have, and we certainly know the difference that she can make.”
This was Australia’s 13th Women’s T20 World Cup victory on the spin, dating back to their loss against India in Sydney in the opening match of the 2020 event. Since then they have won two tournaments and are hot favourites to lift this one.
However, Mooney wasn’t getting too carried away just yet.
“T20 is so fickle,’‘ she said. “It could just take one player to take the game away from you.”
