North Sydney braces for second T20 run-fest

Records tumbled in the wake of Beth Mooney and Chamari Athapaththu as the centurions set North Sydney Oval alight in the opener of a T20I series that looks set to produce many runs yet.

Australia batter Mooney rediscovered her brilliant best to score an impressive 113 from 61 deliveries, while Sri Lanka T20 captain Athapaththu followed suit – putting the same number of runs on the board from 66 balls.

In front of a vocal North Sydney crowd, Mooney's knock powered Australia to their highest ever T20I total on home soil, while Athapaththu smashed her own previous high score of 52 to help Sri Lanka better their previous team best of 155 on a wicket that has traditionally proved a happy hunting ground for batters.

Looking back on some of Australia's highest scores, it seems Mooney's form is a worthy indicator of a big score for the Australians.

Australia's previous T20I high score on home turf of 2-178 against England in Canberra in 2017 came about after a Mooney ton, while the recent record-breaking total of 3-226 against England during the recent Ashes series saw Mooney contribute with a half-century.

After a relatively quiet tour of the West Indies to follow a somewhat lean year for Mooney on the T20I circuit, the laidback Queenslander was pleased to be back among the runs in the first match of the Australian summer.

"The coaches joked with me when I walked off and said, 'How'd you feel out there?'," Mooney said after the match. "I said, 'Some good, some bad', that's my general response.

"You'll take a hundred at the start of the day and a win for the team."

Mooney had passed fifty just once in 18 T20Is in the past 12 months, until breaking that run in spectacular fashion with Sunday's century.

"I'm pretty happy with how I've been hitting the ball, probably just hasn't come off as I would've liked in the previous few games but it's nice to be out there scoring runs again today," the 25-year-old left-hander said.

From the outset Mooney demonstrated plenty of intent to add runs to the scoreboard at every opportunity, her 20 boundaries coming between cleverly run singles, with the spin-heavy Sri Lankan bowling attack unable to trouble her.

"Generally the wicket here plays pretty true," Mooney said after the win.

"There's not a lot of turn out there and they don't have many pace bowlers so we knew going into it that would probably be the case.

"It was nice knowing that we had to face a lot of spin with not a lot of turn."

The ground that has garnered a reputation as the home of women's cricket in Australia houses many happy returns for Mooney's side.

Australia's 41-run win over Sri Lanka maintained their perfect record from seven T20Is at North Sydney Oval.

"We always get a good crowd out here, the wicket is always pretty good and high scoring," Mooney said.

"Fun explosive cricket is played here. It was probably a bit closer than we would've liked but couldn't ask for a better start."

While not ideal for the Australian bowling attack trying desperately to stem the flow of runs, Athapaththu's exploits with the bat provided quite the spectacle for the crowd of 2631 at North Sydney Oval.

Travelling to Australia as underdogs, the captain's knock signaled that Sri Lanka are going to throw everything they have at the powerhouse home side in search of a first ever win against Australia.

CommBank Series v Sri Lanka

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Erin Burns (T20I only), Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Heather Graham, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

Sri Lanka T20I squad: Chamari Atapattu (c), Harshitha Madavi, Shashikala Siriwardena, Anushka Sanjeewani, Hansima Karunaratne, Yashoda Mendis, Nilakshi De Silva, Dilani Manodara, Oshadhi Ranasinghe, Inoka Ranaweera, Sugandhika Kumari, Inoshi Fernando, Achini Kulasooriya, Udeshika Probodhani, Ama Kanchana.

First T20I: Australia won by 41 runs

Second T20I: September 30, North Sydney Oval, 7.10pm

Third T20I: October 2, North Sydney Oval, 10.10am

First ODI: October 5, Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 10.10am

Second ODI:October 7, Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 10.10am

Third ODI: October 9, Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 10.10am

*All ODIs are ICC Women's Championship matches