Beth Mooney’s first ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup century rescued Australia en route to a 107-run win over Pakistan.
Mooney batted Australia out of a hole having been reduced to 76 for seven in the 22nd over and she was ably supported by Alana King.
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The pace bowlers quickly took control of Pakistan’s chase before spin dealt with the bottom order to secure an eventually comfortable win.
Mooney to the rescue
Skipper Alyssa Healy batted herself into a decent position but was left frustrated after sending a simple catch to Diana Baig to see her depart for 20 from 23.
Phoebe Litchfield fell three balls later and the wobble was firmly on as Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland and Ashleigh Gardner all departed for low single figures.
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Nashra Sandhu (3/37) and Rameen Shamim (2/29) shared the wickets of that trio and picked up the next two between them as Pakistan turned the screw with eyes on a first-ever win over Australia.
Tahlia McGrath fell for five before Georgia Wareham departed for a duck as the spin twins were both economical and effective.
At 76 for seven, Australia desperately needed someone to stick with Mooney, who after coming in at No.4 was masterfully rotating the strike and avoiding the aerial shots that had caused her teammates so many problems.
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Kim Garth proved to be an able running partner, with the fast bowler making 11 off 47 balls before she was stumped by Sidra Nawaz down the leg side in a wonderful display of wicketkeeping.
There was only a little panic from Australia, finding themselves at 115 for eight, as King came in to support Mooney with big hitting so often a feature of her innings.
However, the spinner kept things calm as Mooney neared her century, which she duly reached with a single, her first World Cup 100 coming from 110 balls.
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From there, the pairing went big, as their partnership passed 100 and only ended on the final ball as Mooney was caught for 109 from 114 balls.
King provided 51 from 49 balls including three sixes to become the first batter in women’s ODIs to score a fifty while batting at number 10 or lower.
It meant that after suffering an almighty scare, Australia had recovered to set Pakistan 222 to win.
Pace stumps Pakistan
While spin had done for the majority of Australia’s wickets, they relied on pace with Megan Schutt having been brought in to replace Sophie Molineux.
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A steady start to Pakistan’s chase was required but Sadaf Shamas departed for five as she was caught behind by Alyssa Healy off the bowling of Kim Garth on review.
Annabel Sutherland took a low catch for Schutt’s first wicket before the experiment to send Sidra Nawaz higher up the order did not work out as she was dismissed for five by Garth.
With Natalia Pervaiz and Eyman Fatima falling cheaply, Pakistan slipped to 31 for five inside the ninth over.
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Sutherland became the third pace bowler to pick up a wicket as skipper Fatima had to return to the hutch.
Sidra Amin dug in but became the first wicket to spin in the innings as Gardner dismissed her for 35, while Georgia Wareham picked up the next wicket to leave Pakistan 86 for eight.
King was the third of the spin trio to earn a wicket as she broke a building partnership before Sutherland bowled Rameen to secure Australia their second win of the World Cup.
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Australia v Pakistan – R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Australia 221/9 in 50 overs (Beth Mooney 109, Alana King 51; Nashra Sandhu 3/37, Rameen Shamim 2/29)
Pakistan 114 all out in 36.3 overs (Sidra Amin 35, Rameen Shamim 15; Kim Garth 3/14, Annabel Sutherland 2/15)
Result: Australia win by 107 runs
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