Modest Mooney happy to fly under the radar after heroics
- Beth Mooney finished as Player of the Tournament after scoring 259 runs for Australia to steer them to ICC Women’s T20 World Cup victory
- Mooney’s unbeaten 78 at the MCG was the highest score ever made in a Women’s T20 World Cup Final
- The opener is still in disbelief at her own achievements and thanked her teammates for helping her to perform
Mooney has been Australia’s in-form batter over the summer and capped it off in perfect fashion by finishing her last knock unbeaten on 78 - the highest score in an ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Final - to steer the hosts to their fifth title, a first on home soil.
Mooney, who scored 259 at the top of the order for the home side, averaged 64 from her six innings with three half-centuries but admitted it hasn’t been an easy ride to the top.
“If you told me six months ago that I’d have the run that I’ve had in this tournament, I’d probably have laughed at you,” said Mooney.
“I was hanging by a thread in the last T20 World Cup and I still think I’m just this average cricketer who gets a little bit lucky.
“One of the things that I pride myself on is trying to be better every day whether it’s as an athlete, a cricketer or as a human being.
“Batting is my happy place and to be able to see some evidence to suggest that I am doing something right is great.
“I feel grateful to be given the opportunity to perform on the big stage.”
Mooney may have been the one breaking records but the star opener insisted she wouldn’t be celebrating individual records if it weren’t for the support of her teammates.
Alyssa Healy earned the Player of the Match award at the MCG after hitting 75 off 39 balls while Mooney knows if it weren’t for Lanning’s 49-run knock in the South Africa semi-final, they may have not got a chance to be part of women’s sport history.
Their first world title on home soil came in front of a record-breaking 86,174 crowd on International Women’s Day.
“I had a look around at the crowd and said to Alyssa I couldn’t believe how cool it was that we were about to open the batting for Australia in a World Cup final in front of more than 80,000 people,” added Mooney.
“We have a great relationship between she wickets and she said I’m hitting the ball really well so get me on strike and I was happy to help her out.
“It’s pretty incredible to watch one of your teammates do that in a World Cup final on the biggest stage in front of nearly 90,000 people. I’m just proud that I was able to stand at the other end and watch her do her thing.
“I was conscious I had to take the lead when she was removed but Meg [Lanning] makes my life easy too.
“She always reminds me that to build a big partnership you don’t need to go helter-skelter and that we would just get the runs as they come.
“Sometimes you forget when playing for your country that you perform best when you enjoy it and we just enjoyed every second.”