A 61-ball century by Beth Mooney guided the Scorchers to a 42-run win in their top-of-the-table clash against the Thunder at the CitiPower Centre in Melbourne on Sunday.
The Scorchers posted 4-159 from 20 overs after Mooney (101 not out) smashed four boundaries in the 20th over, including a crunching pull shot to the mid-wicket fence off the final ball of the innings to bring up her third WBBL hundred.
Mooney’s ability to pierce gaps was on display when she hit 17 fours but no sixes to compile her runs at a stunning strike rate of 165.57.
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The two-time Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World had the scoreboard ticking along took full advantage after her Australian teammate Phoebe Litchfield grassed a difficult chance diving forward at deep cover when Mooney was on 53.
From there on there was no stopping Mooney as she combined with Chloe Piparo (22 not out off 16) for an unbeaten 70-run partnership.
“I can assure you it wasn’t easy as I apparently made it look,” Mooney told Channel 7.
“I had ‘Pip’ go with me at the end and that helped me get on a bit of a roll.”
Mooney also pulled off a sharp leg-side stumping from the bowling of off-spinner Amy Edgar (3-18 off four overs) to remove Anika Learoyd.
The Thunder finished on 8-117 after Scorchers seamer Chloe Ainsworth did the early damage with 2-8 from her four overs.
Ainsworth, 18, captured the huge wicket of Sri Lankan opening batter Chamari Athapathtu (10 off 11) courtesy of a well-judged review for lbw and removed South African Marizanne Kapp the very next ball to be on a hat-trick.
Mooney praised Edgar and Ainsworth, who have taken 15 and 12 wickets respectively this season.
“I’ve always known the talent in Amy Edgar,” Mooney told Channel 7. “I think she’s come on in leaps and bounds this year.
“Chloe Ainsworth, isn’t she a real talent? Runs in, bowls fast and loves a wicket, so I get a bit scared at the wicketkeeping end when she’s charging in.”
The Thunder had not lost a wicket in the four-over powerplay before this match and could not recover from a stuttering start.
Litchfield (45 off 38) and stand-in captain Sammy-Jo Johnson (34 not out off 33) were left with too much to do.
MOONEY’S REMARKABLE CONSISTENCY
Mooney’s innings took her season tally to 418 runs – just one run shy of her opening partner and competition leading run-scorer Devine – at an average of 59.71 and a strike rate of 146.15.
The three-time WBBL champion has passed 400 runs for the season in all nine editions of the tournament – the only player to do so – courtesy of her productive weekend in Melbourne that included 47 not out of 32 balls when she and Devine combined for an unbeaten 134-run partnership to defeat the Renegades on Saturday.
Mooney is the competition’s all-time leading run-scorer with 4526 at an average of 47.64 and a strike rate of 124.34.
DARLINGTON PUTS NAME FORWARD
Among the Mooney masterclass, Thunder pace bowler Hannah Darlington provided strong resistance with 2-26 off four overs, including the key wickets of Devine and Maddy Darke.
Darlington picked up a five-wicket haul against the Stars in their most recent outing and has 16 from nine games in the tournament.
She made her debut for Australia at age 19 two years ago when she played four matches against India and is making a good argument for a return to the national team.
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