'Macbeth' walks familiar stage in Aussie epic

Before she'd even set foot on the Great Barrier Reef Arena this week, Beth Mooney had long since won herself an army of admirers in Mackay courtesy of her WBBL exploits in the regional Queensland centre.

In six innings at the venue during her time with the Brisbane Heat, Mooney had crashed scores of 57, 2, 6, 44, 73 and 77no to cement her reputation as a local favourite.

And after last night's remarkable 125no, which carried Australia from the edge of defeat to a thrilling last-ball win in the second ODI against India, the Mooney legend in Mackay has grown exponentially, to the point that they've even bestowed upon her a nickname: MacBeth.

Mooney has made something of a habit of heroics in recent times. Twice in 2019 she played the lead role for the Heat in winning WBBL finals, and last year, on the biggest stage of all, she smashed 78no from 54 balls to help Australia win the T20 World Cup final.

The 27-year-old has also been the world's number one T20I batter, is the all-time leading run-scorer in the WBBL, and this year broke Queensland's WNCL record individual score with a stunning 163 from 139 balls.

Which is quite the list of accomplishments.

But Friday night's innings was on another level again, as Mooney played the innings of her life to rescue her country and confirm her stature as a batter belonging in the very top echelon of the game, no matter the format.

As wickets tumbled around her and India's new-ball pair of Jhulan Goswami and Meghna Singh found considerable swing and seam under lights, the left-hander put her head down, focusing at that point on survival over scoring.

"It was really tough," she said afterward. "You have to fight your mind a little bit when you're in those situations, because you can see the ball is doing a bit, not just in the air but off the wicket as well.

"(India) get really up and about when they take wickets and we had to absorb some pressure, and whilst it was a hard battle out there trying to fight my ego a little bit, and (wanting) to take the game on, you just have to suck it up a little bit and do the job that's required at the time."

With Australia's women regularly fed a diet heavy on T20 cricket, and notwithstanding the record of 25 consecutive ODI wins, at 4-52 in the 16th over and India's bowlers on fire, it wouldn't have been altogether surprising to see them fall well short of what is the highest total made against them throughout that winning streak.

"I thought we were gone for all money at one point," Mooney admitted. "Then when Ash (Gardner) and I built a little partnership, followed by Tahlia (McGrath) and I, just working out the maths in my head, I didn't think we were too far off the mark.

"When (McGrath) came out, I just said, 'One big partnership is going to win us this game'."

On that count, Mooney – who McGrath later labelled a mathematician for her ability to work out the runs required per over on the fly – was one off; their critical 126-run stand was then followed by an equally important 97-run partnership between Mooney and Nicola Carey (39no).

"We tried not to let the balls (remaining) get too far away from how many runs were needed – if that gap was getting too big it was going to get a bit out of hand," Mooney said.

"But wickets in the shed at the 40-over mark really helped us and (so did) having set batters, and as well as Tahlia, Nic came in and played the house down and certainly made my life a lot easier."

Mooney though, was the constant. After being dropped on two in the sixth over, and after being at fault in the run-out of Ellyse Perry, perhaps she felt she simply had to see it out.

Yet it is in the chasm between desire and delivery that many an ambitious batter falls, however Mooney has shown repeatedly now that she is a cricketer for the big occasions, and the big moments.

As the contest entered its final 10 overs, she seized the initiative with three fours in the space of seven balls, driving India to distraction with her variety: driven over mid-on, ramped over third, and flicked behind square.

From the final ball of the 48th over and the second of the 49th, she struck again, first wide of backward square and then through extra cover.

By the end, it was a feat of physical endurance as much as clever stroke-play and shrewd strategy, and that she could exhibit those latter qualities at the close is testament to the work she has put in on the former.

"I spent a lot of time in the pre-season finding that extra one or two per cent in my fitness gains, and that showed in the way I played today," Mooney said.

"The way CA (Cricket Australia) has been able to manage us in the pre-season – having access to great facilities and great coaches – has been incredible, and I can't thank them enough for the work they've put in to me over not just this pre-season but an extended period of time with the investment they've made.

"Hopefully they think it's worth it."

CommBank Series v India

Australia lead India 4-0 on points

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Stella Campbell, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Redmayne, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

India Test and ODI squad: Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh, Ekta Bisht.

India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Shikha Pandey, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh (wk), Harleen Deol, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Renuka Singh.

First ODI:Australia won by nine wickets

Sep 24: Australia won by five wickets

Sep 26: Third ODI, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay

Sep 30 – Oct 3: Test match, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast (D/N)

Oct 7: First T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Oct 9: Second T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Oct 10: Third T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast