Beth Mooney recovered from a bout of gastro to put on a batting masterclass and guide Australia to a crushing nine-wicket win over India in the first T20I of the five-game series.
Mooney struck an unbeaten 89 off 57 as the Aussies chased down 173 with 11 balls to spare, with new captain Alyssa Healy adding 37 off 23. Tahlia McGrath, replacing Meg Lanning at first drop, also impressed with 40* off 29 in the dominant victory.
Mooney had only had one short batting practice session – the day before the match – as she battled a stomach bug after arriving in India last Sunday.
She said after the match: “We don’t need to go into the gory details, but at some point there was a needle in my butt at 3am on Monday night so I wasn’t in a good way … it was pretty grim.”
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Deepti Sharma (36* off 15) and Richa Ghosh (36 off 20) led India to a strong total of 5-172 in front of over 25,000 fans in Mumbai. It was the hosts’ highest first-innings score against Australia.
Ellyse Perry bagged 2-10 in an early stint with Annabel Sutherland an economic 1-21, while Kim Garth picked up a wicket on debut for Australia, replacing the ill Darcie Brown.
But Mooney’s 16-boundary knock, alongside McGrath’s five boundaries, powered the Australians home to a comfortable victory. The pair brought up a 100-run partnership off just 56 balls with the winning shot.
Mooney was dropped on four runs and never looked back as the Australians continued their unbeaten 2022.
Australia’s T20I tour of India
1st T20I: Australia won by 9 wickets
2nd T20I: December 11, D.Y. Patil Stadium, Mumbai (Dec 12, 12.30am AEDT)
3rd T20I: December 14, Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai (Dec 15, 12.30am AEDT)
4th T20I: December 17, Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai (Dec 18, 12.30am AEDT)
5th T20I: December 20, Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai (Dec 21, 12.30am AEDT)
Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland
India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Singh Thakur, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarvani, Devika Vaidya, S Meghana, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol.
