Thought we were gone for all money, had to absorb some pressure: Beth Mooney
Sep 25, 2021
Mackay [Australia], September 25 : Australia's middle-order batter Beth Mooney has said that Mithali Raj-led India gets really charged up when they are taking wickets.
Mooney and Nicola Carey played unbeaten knocks of 125 and 39 respectively as Australia registered a win in the second ODI of the three-match series. On the final ball of the game, Jhulan Goswami had Carey dismissed, but the ball was adjudged as no-ball as it was over the waist as per the third umpire.
And in the end, the hosts went on to register a win. With this victory, Australia extended their unbeaten run to 26 matches in ODI cricket.
"It was really tough. You have to fight your mind a little bit when you're in those situations, because you can see the ball is doing a bit, not just in the air but off the wicket as well. India gets really up and about when they take wickets and we had to absorb some pressure, and whilst it was a hard battle out there trying to fight my ego a little bit, and wanting to take the game on, you just have to suck it up a little bit and do the job that's required at the time," cricket.com.au quoted Mooney as saying.
"I thought we were gone for all money at one point. Then when Ashleigh Gardner and I built a little partnership, followed by Tahlia McGrath and I, just working out the maths in my head, I didn't think we were too far off the mark. When McGrath came out, I just said, One big partnership is going to win us this game," she added.
Further talking about Australia's win, Mooney said: "We tried not to let the balls remaining get too far away from how many runs were needed - if that gap was getting too big it was going to get a bit out of hand."
"But wickets in the shed at the 40-over mark really helped us and so did having set batters, and as well as Tahlia, Nic came in and played the house down and certainly made my life a lot easier. I spent a lot of time in the pre-season finding that extra one or two per cent in my fitness gains, and that showed in the way I played today," she added.
Earlier, Buoyed by Smriti Mandhana's 94-ball 86 and a quickfire 28 by Jhulan Goswami, India managed to score a challenging 274/7 in their 50 overs against Australia. Mandhana showed class at the top as she looked all set to reach the three-figure mark. While the opener fell short by 14 runs, a 50-ball 44 by Richa Ghosh and a late flourish from Jhulan and Pooja Vastrakar (29 off 37 balls) helped India reach a defendable total.
"The way CA (Cricket Australia) has been able to manage us in the pre-season - having access to great facilities and great coaches - has been incredible, and I can't thank them enough for the work they've put into me over not just this pre-season but an extended period of time with the investment they've made," said Mooney.