Did Mooney's 138 Lead Australia to Historic ODI Total?

New Delhi, Sep 20 (NationPress) Beth Mooney delivered an unforgettable batting performance, scoring a remarkable 138 as Australia surged to a colossal 412, marking their joint-highest total in women’s ODIs, during the decisive match against India at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday.

On a scorching afternoon, Australia unleashed an exhilarating display of boundary-hitting. They capitalized on a favorable pitch, short boundaries, a speedy outfield, and inconsistent Indian bowling and fielding to position themselves for a potential 2-1 series victory.

Captain Alyssa Healy set the stage with a swift 30, applying early pressure on the Indian bowlers, while Georgia Voll and Ellyse Perry continued the momentum with impressive innings of 81 and 68, respectively. Mooney wasted no time in maintaining the aggressive pace, consistently finding the boundary.

She dominated the Indian bowling attack, hitting 23 fours and a six in her extraordinary innings, as Australia established a new record for their highest women’s ODI score against India. It was a grueling day for the Indian team; the bowlers struggled to find answers, and the hosts displayed poor ground fielding and catching. Although they managed to dismiss all ten Australian batters, most of the breakthroughs occurred after significant damage was already done by the top five Australian batters.

Choosing to bat first, Healy immediately found her rhythm, hitting Kranti Goud for multiple boundaries. Georgia also joined in with her own set of boundaries, while Alyssa continued her aggressive play against Renuka Singh Thakur, scoring three fours in quick succession.

After pulling Kranti for a stunning boundary, India’s strategy of placing a deep square leg paid off when Alyssa was caught at mid-on, marking her third dismissal to the young pacer.

Ellyse began her innings with a swift pull shot racing to the boundary, while Georgia followed with a clever late cut for four, receiving a fortunate reprieve when Richa Ghosh dropped a straightforward catch, allowing Georgia another boundary. India's misfields continued to aid Georgia and Ellyse, as Australia finished their power-play at 77/1, their best score in this phase in an ODI since 2019.

India's failure to capitalize on close chances persisted when Harmanpreet leapt to catch Georgia off Sneh Rana’s bowling but misjudged, granting her another chance at 36. Georgia took advantage of Arundhati Reddy’s overpitched deliveries, dispatching them for boundaries, eventually reaching her fifty off 43 balls.

India’s strategy of alternating between short and full deliveries allowed Georgia and Ellyse to keep the scoreboard advancing despite a few dot balls. Their exquisite backfoot play, particularly their pulls and late cuts, made boundary-hitting look effortless. After Ellyse lofted Sneh Rana for six, India finally broke through when Georgia attempted a sweep but top-edged to short fine leg off Sneh.

Mooney then entered the scene, sustaining the aggressive tempo by hitting Deepti for two boundaries before dispatching a Radha Yadav full toss for four and scooping Renuka for two more boundaries. In the midst of this, Ellyse secured her fifty in 55 balls by slicing Radha for four, while Mooney lofted the spinner down the ground for six.

Following her fifty in just 31 balls, Mooney and Ellyse struck six additional boundaries between them until the latter was caught brilliantly by Kranti, diving at long-on off Arundhati’s bowling. Mooney continued her display of high-quality shots and capitalized on India's poor lengths, reaching her century in just 57 balls with a pulled four coming off a no-ball.

She and Ashleigh Gardner (39) shared a powerful 82-run partnership for the fourth wicket before Gardner was caught at long-off off Renuka’s bowling. Mooney hit five more boundaries before India managed to initiate a late-game collapse. Deepti trapped Tahlia McGrath lbw before Mooney and Grace Harris fell in quick succession in the 45th over.

Despite Alana King and Georgia Wareham finding a few boundaries and pushing past 400, Australia would rue the 13 unused deliveries in their innings. With the pitch still conducive for batting, India must start aggressively right from the first ball to avoid a heavy defeat.

Brief scores:

Australia 412 all out in 47.5 overs (Beth Mooney 138, Georgia Voll 81; Arundhati Reddy 3-86, Deepti Sharma 2-75) against India