Thanks to a brilliantly constructed century from Beth Mooney, Australia defeated Pakistan by 107 runs on Wednesday in Colombo, despite being down at one stage at 76 for 7. Prior to Pakistan’s latest batting display, the southpaw turned around Australia’s innings with a 114-ball 109, her first World Cup century.
After being put in to bat, Australia got off to a somewhat sluggish but consistent start. However, they saw a rare batting collapse after Alyssa Healy fell, chipping Sadia Iqbal to mid-off. The Australian hitters frequently went early in their shots and ended up chipping to the bowler or the fielders in the in-field because they were unable to adjust to the sluggish ball.
By taking five wickets between them and tearing through Australia’s middle order, Nashra Sandhu and Rameen Shamim were the main benefactors, leaving the world champions reeling at 76 for 7 by the 22nd over. Ash Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, and Georgia Wareham were all removed by gently chipping the ball to the fielders, while Ellyse Perry was stumped after stepping out of her crease and being misled by the spin.
But Mooney made sure Australia didn’t have to panic by playing her shots late and adjusting nicely to the slow pace. Even as Pakistan’s spinners continuously enticed her with flighted deliveries, Kim Garth, who was conservative with her strokes, provided her with firm support. When Garth scrambled back for a hazardous two, she missed her chance to whip the bails and survived a run-out when Fatima Sana strayed too far from the stumps to catch a toss from the deep.
Before Sidra Nawaz’s brilliant stumping in the 34th over sent her back, Mooney and Garth had stopped the decline and held the Pakistani bowlers at bay for over 12 overs. Despite losing a difficult chance against Alana King, Nawaz had a great day behind the stumps and was largely impressive.
Nevertheless, Pakistan failed to take the final three wickets. Australia entered the last overs and was able to launch an offensive thanks to Mooney’s well-thought-out attack and plenty of lower-order backing. Diana Baig took the brunt of King’s very harsh tactics towards the end, as she gave up 24 runs during her period. Before dismissing Mooney off the final ball of Australia’s innings, Fatima was also hit for 21 runs in the last over. But by that time, King had achieved her first ODI half-century and, with Mooney, had stitched the largest partnership for the ninth wicket in women’s cricket history, totaling 106 runs, which helped Australia record a respectable 221 for 9.
Pakistan never posed a serious threat to provide much of a challenge in the run chase. Pakistan was reduced to 49 for 6 as the Australian pacers continued to chip away at wickets far too frequently, even as the in-form Sidra Amin got going with a couple of certain boundaries.
By the 22nd over, even Amin departed while looking to hit over the in-field, and Pakistan were reduced to 78 for 7 – marginally better placed than their counterparts at that stage.
Pakistan’s tail, however, was not poised to provide a comparable fightback, in contrast to Australia. Despite putting up a stronger fight than their top order for nearly 11 overs, Rameen Shamim and Nashra Sandhu were already far from winning. As Pakistan collapsed for 114, all six Australian bowlers contributed at least one wicket each.
Pakistan is still without a victory after three games and will next play table-toppers England three days later. Conversely, Australia will travel back to India on Sunday to play the hosts in Visakhapatnam.
Brief Scores: Australia 221/9 in 50 overs (Beth Mooney 109, Alana King 51*; Nashra Sandhu 3-37, Rameen Shamim 2-29) beat Pakistan 114 in 36.3 overs (SIdra Amin 35, Rameen Shamim 15; Kim Garth 3-14, Annabel Sutherland 2-15) by 107 runs
