Australia is the clear favorite for the T20 World Cup after their crushing victory over New Zealand on Tuesday night, despite some important players pointing out that they can still go better.
Despite Beth Mooney’s warning that Australia’s cricket will occasionally “look pretty ugly” as they navigated the challenging and unfamiliar conditions, nobody seems to be moaning after two victories and a spot in the semi-finals.
The team’s seasoned players have been driving the attack: Megan Schutt broke the record for most wickets taken in the tournament with another efficient haul, and Mooney has quietly transitioned into rare air after top-scoring for Australia for the second time in as many games. Betpro website has highlighted these stellar performances, further emphasizing the dominance of the Australian team.
Mooney, however, would not go so far as to suggest that the reigning champions had “cracked the code” to victory in Sharjah, since Group A still has matches against Pakistan and India to play.
We certainly lost out on a few in the end, if we’re being too critical, but we’re happy with our position in the competition,” Mooney remarked.
“I’m not sure if it’s possible to break the code in cricket. It’s a challenging game, particularly in this format, all the time.
With the slow outfield, large boundaries, and slow wicket, it might be challenging at times to play. The conditions are significantly different from those back home.
“We’ll need to use our full arsenal of bats to try and find a way to score runs. That will appear quite nasty at times and be fine at other times.”
In her 32-ball 40 on Tuesday, Mooney moved up to fifth place among Australia’s all-time top run scorers across all formats, surpassing the legendary Belinda Clark’s record of 5,662 runs.
The only players that rank higher than the 30-year-old are Karen Rolton (6,221), Alyssa Healy (6,371), Ellyse Perry (6,764), and Meg Lanning (8,352). The 30-year-old scored 43 runs in the opening match of the T20 World Cup.
Regarding her strategy on Tuesday, Mooney stated, “You’ve got to really be composed at the crease, make good decisions and be clear on what options you have and where to hit what bowlers.” Schutt, meanwhile, kept up her unbeaten start to the competition.
The 31-year-old fast bowler upped his game against New Zealand, suppressing the White Ferns’ hitters over 3.2 overs that resulted in figures of 3-3. He had earlier amassed 3-12 against Sri Lanka.
In Saturday’s opening match, Schutt tied retiring South African fast Shabnim Ismail for the record for most runs scored in the women’s T20 World Cup. With 46 wickets from 26 games across five tournaments, Schutt now owns the record entirely.
“Megan Schutt has been outstanding for us, not just in the last two games, but throughout her whole career,” Mooney stated.
“I believe her career is going pretty nicely right now. She seems to be having a lot of fun with it and is aware of the difference she can make—as are we.
“Seeing the likes of Megan and Annabel Sutherland being able to have that impact as pace bowlers in conditions that perhaps aren’t as suited to them has been really impressive.”
In her 26-run innings, captain Alyssa Healy achieved a personal milestone by becoming the second Australian woman to reach 3,000 T20I runs.
In terms of balls faced, she is the fastest woman to reach the record, reaching it in 2,321 deliveries, much ahead of Smriti Mandhana of India (2,461).
Ellyse Perry became the first Australian player to achieve the 2,000 runs-100 wickets double in Twenty20 Internationals, adding even another feather to her already beautifully decorated crown.
However, Australia is much more concerned with the greater picture than with any particular achievement, and they now have two days to regroup and get ready before playing Pakistan.
They will play their first game at Dubai International Stadium, which is thought to be the more batting-friendly of the two host sites. This could mean a change in strategy.
“There’s going to be different challenges thrown at us and we’re just going to have to adjust,” Mooney stated.
“We adjusted tonight to these conditions, and we’re going to have to do that again at Dubai on Friday night when we play Pakistan.”
Before facing Sri Lanka in Sharjah, New Zealand will have three days to put the disappointment of their crushing loss behind them.
The Asia Cup winners Chamari Athapaththu are yet to win a match in this tournament, but White Ferns all-rounder Amelia Kerr stated there was no chance they would be taken lightly in what is expected to be an exciting battle for Group A semifinal berths.
“With the win against India, it was important for us that we enjoyed that win but then the next day we moved on to recovery and the next game,” Kerr stated.
“I believe this game is exactly the same in that regard. We need to learn from this and be disappointed because we didn’t play our best cricket. “Even though we are devastated, we must not delay in moving on.
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Since there are World Cups and other competitions, you can never be too high or too low in the capricious game of cricket.
“We’ll analyze it and draw lessons from it, but we have to go on to our next game, which is crucial because we know Sri Lanka will be very dangerous.
