'I'm not here for the hundred, I'm here for the win'

08 Oct 2025 Laura Jolly, at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Beth Mooney barely celebrated perhaps her finest ODI century such was her determination to put her team into a match-winning position

When Kim Garth was given out lbw in the 23rd over of Australia's batting innings against Pakistan and immediately reviewed, Beth Mooney turned and raced for the sidelines.

Rather than wait around for UltraEdge to confirm what she already knew – Garth had got a feather on it and the decision would be overturned – Mooney wanted to quickly confer with Australia’s brains trust around how, with their team languishing at 7-79, she needed to approach the next phase of the innings.

It was just one of a host of conferences No.4 bat Mooney had throughout Australia's innings.

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After her match-winning innings of 109 that set up a comprehensive 107-run win, Mooney explained how that collaborative approach, combined with an intensive pre-game nets with assistant coach Dan Marsh, had set up her remarkable knock.

"I don't shy away from feedback as the game's going on," Mooney said.

"I think those games are really important to use the resources around you, so any opportunity I got to get a message, I think was really important given the context of the scenario.

"(Later) I was trying to find out at what point I could start being a little bit more expansive ... just a number or an over that I could start playing a few more shots and a couple of other messages around certain bowlers and different plans to them.

"And thankfully, we've got excellent staff on the bench who I was asking a lot of questions of (and) some girls on the sidelines who unfortunately aren't in the XI but still playing a significant role in (offering) a voice and an ear to listen to when I was battling with different ideas in my head."

Step one was to sap the energy and momentum from Pakistan's attack, which Mooney and Garth managed via their 39-run eighth-wicket stand compiled over 12.3 overs.

Mooney then continued that same approach early in her record 106-run ninth-wicket partnership with Alana King, before the pair eventually hit the accelerator in the final few overs to push the Australian total to 221.

"It kind of helped having another job to do, which was to help Kim Garth and Alana King be really clear on their plans as well," Mooney said.

"So that got me out of my own head and what I needed to do.

"We obviously had a lot of time left in the game, so my mindset with Kim especially was we could take some time out of the game – we know that teams like Pakistan are front runners and when they're flying, they're up and about.

"If you get a little partnership going, they can get a little bit flat and you can open the game up that way."

When Mooney introduced herself in the documentary charting Australia's run to the 2020 T20 World Cup, 'The Record', she described herself as 'Boring Beth'.

In reality, the self-effacing 31-year-old Queenslander is anything but. But charting her way through her innings in Colombo did require her to draw on an unfashionable approach for much of her 114-ball knock.

King said "Moons gave me nothing" as the pair celebrated Mooney's first World Cup century as the pair reacted to the match in a video for team social channels.

"I was thinking over 200, we've got to win this game," Mooney responded. "I'm not here for the hundred, I'm here for the win."

Speaking to reporters, she expanded: "Certainly, there were moments when I thought I could take a bowler on and reverse sweep, ramp hit down the ground, that sort of thing, and they'd pop into my mind – albeit very briefly – and I'd have to park them pretty quickly and play the scenario in front of me.

"I knew we had a long time to bat, so we didn't have to do anything too rash, and we were still moving the scoreboard slightly – not probably as much as we're used to – but that scenario demanded that of us.

"And then the game opened up a little bit more for us as batters and we were able to score a little bit more freely. The time left in the game certainly helped with (not panicking)."

Australia's washed-out game against Sri Lanka on Saturday meant the Pakistan match was their first since arriving in the island nation a week ago.

It was also Mooney's first ODI innings on Sri Lankan soil, and just her second game in the country in any format after a single T20I appearance, at a different Colombo venue, back in 2016.

"We know when we come up against the subcontinent teams, their spinners bowl slightly differently to ours, take a lot of pace off the ball," Mooney said.

"So, my method in the nets when I had a hit with Dan Marsh yesterday was to really commit if I was going to come out and try and hit down the ground as hard as I could or to sit deep and still hit it as hard.

"Thankfully that method worked tonight ... I might have to adjust and adapt that as we go through the tournament … but I think just being really clinical with your footwork and really clear and concise with that method works."

The mind of Mooney is a constant whir when she's in the middle, calculating overs remaining, run rates, the ideal pace of her innings, various match-ups to different bowlers.

Mooney rescues Australia with gritty ton to see off Pakistan

It was no wonder she said her mental exhaustion matched her physical fatigue following the match – and still, there was room for some assessment of potential areas for improvement.

"I think there's always going to be games in those scenarios where you think, 'We scored pretty freely towards the very end' ... and I did wonder if we could have done that a little bit earlier," she said.

"But at the same time, 220 ended up being more than enough, so I think it's hard to look back and wonder if I should have played differently when the game panned out how it did.

"I'm mentally a bit fried now, having spent so much time in my head for the majority of that batting innings, so just pleased we got over the line and the bowlers backed up the batting unit."

2025 Women's ODI World Cup

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham