No-fuss Mooney quietly eclipses Lanning record

In classic Beth Mooney fashion, the latest in her long list of accolades flew largely under the radar during Sunday’s first ODI, as she claimed a record off an Australian legend.

Mooney’s unbeaten 77 was her 56th 50-plus score in international cricket from 182 games across all formats, eclipsing her former skipper Meg Lanning’s 55 as the most by an Australian woman.

The 31-year-old Queenslander still has work to do to reel in Lanning’s overall Australian runs record – she currently trails the Victorian by 1,782 runs, thanks in no small part to Lanning’s extraordinary conversion rate that saw her score 15 ODI tons – but it highlighted Mooney’s consistency, be it at the top of the order in T20s, or as a middle-order lynchpin in ODIs and Tests.

Mooney sits well clear as Australia’s most prolific opening batter in women’s T20Is, with her 3,365 runs from 103 innings followed by Alyssa Healy’s 2,723 from 112, and with Elyse Villani (960 from 39) a distant third.

Those numbers illustrate the current opening pair’s dominance in the shortest format since taking over at the top of the order in 2017, and in Mooney’s case, her versatility, given she owns a different role entirely in ODIs.

The left-hander has averaged 46.31 from 27 one-day innings since the 2022 ODI World Cup, putting her slightly ahead of her nearest teammates in Annabel Sutherland (44.81) and Ellyse Perry (44.63)

Her expert management of the middle-order has played a key role in Australia’s 25 wins from 28 completed ODIs since that tournament in New Zealand, and on Tuesday she explained the approach behind her success.

“I think from my point of view, I don’t spend too much time looking at the scorecard,” Mooney told reporters in New Chandigarh.

“I just try and go out there and bat to the conditions, get into the game really quickly and make sure I’m taking the pressure off the batter at the other end.

“The other night, it was Phoebe (Litchfield) who was flying … I’ve batted in the middle order in ODI cricket for a number of years now, so I know how important it is to keep that momentum going, and if you look at the scoreboard too much, it can get quite big on you whether you’re a long way away from the end of the game, or pretty close to the end.

“It’s about grabbing momentum when you can, trying to change it when you don’t have it, and making sure that your partner at the other end doesn’t have any pressure on.”

On Sunday, Mooney’s 74-ball innings and unbeaten 116-run partnership with Annabel Sutherland helped Australia reel in an imposing target of 282 with more than five overs to spare.

The Aussies will now be seeking a series win, and another boost of confidence heading into the World Cup, on Wednesday when they meet India in the second ODI, also in New Chandigarh.

Intense humidity in the Punjabi city got the better of several of the Aussies on Sunday, with Sutherland leaving the field during the bowling innings before Ellyse Perry retired on 30 due to cramp, but Mooney said the playing group had recovered and was good to go.

“There was a bit going on in the game the other night with the heat, it’s the first time in a little while that we’ve played in those conditions, so it was a little bit of a shock to the system for everyone, myself included, as always,” she said.

“But from all reports, everyone’s pulled up pretty well … we had a good day off yesterday, there weren’t too many players venturing out in the heat again.

“We’re really lucky that our SSSM (sports science, sports medicine) staff do a lot of the heavy lifting, making sure we’ve got everything we need (and) our physical prep in the winter was incredible, with our strength and conditioning coach running the show there and making sure we were filling the tank … from my point of view, I don’t think (we could be more) prepared for this World Cup.

“We look at the game the other day and yeah, a few of us got hit by a bus a little bit, so to speak, from the heat, but the ability to bounce back from that pretty quickly is going to be really critical when it comes to crunch time in the World Cup.”

Mooney said she was also expecting a stern challenge from the hosts, who were on top of Australia early on Sunday during a 114-run opening stand, but were then pegged back with the bat, before letting crucial opportunities slip in the field.

“I don’t think any international game of cricket is easy, to be honest … we saw in the first innings that India certainly put us to the sword a little bit, the opening partnership was quite big and it took us a while to drag that momentum back,” she said.

“India will have reflected on the game just like we have and probably come with some different ideas and different plans, so certainly expecting a challenge tomorrow.”

Qantas ODI tour of India 2025

September 14: First ODI: Australia won by eight wickets

September 17: Second ODI, Mullanpur Cricket Stadium, 6pm AEST

September 20: Third ODI, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, 6pm AEST

India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Renuka Singh Thakur, Arundhati Reddy, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kranti Gaud, Amanjot Kaur, Radha Yadav, Sree Charani, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Sneh Rana

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicole Faltum, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Charli Knott, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

2025 Women’s ODI World Cup

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

Australia’s warm-up match

September 28: v England, Bengaluru, Bengaluru, 7:30pm AEST

Australia’s group stage matches

October 1: v New Zealand, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 7:30pm AEST

October 4: v Sri Lanka, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7:30pm AEST

October 8: v Pakistan, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 8:30pm AEDT

October 12: v India, ACA-VDCA Stadium Visakhapatnam, 8:30pm AEDT

October 16: v Bangladesh, ACA-VDCA Stadium Visakhapatnam, 8:30pm AEDT

October 22: v England, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8:30pm AEDT

October 25: v South Africa, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8:30pm AEDT

Finals

Semi-final 1: Guwahati or Colombo*, October 29, 8:30pm AEDT