100 and counting: Mooney reflects on 'special' milestone

Beth Mooney admits there was a time where she doubted whether she would even get the opportunity to play one T20I for Australia.

On Sunday, Mooney will not only pull on the green and gold for Australia in the shortest format for the 100th time, she will do so as the world’s top-ranked T20I batter, and with a record that already places her among the game’s greats.

"It's nice to play one game for Australia, but to play 100 when there was probably a time where I didn't think I was going to play any, is really special," Mooney said in Mackay on Saturday.

"I'm very lucky to have been given the opportunities I have by the selectors and the coaches I've had, so hopefully it'll be another win for Australia and there'll be a few runs off the end of my bat.

"I've got some really important family coming up as well to watch ... I'm just lucky and grateful that I've got that support away from the game, to have people in the grandstand cheering me on and that unconditional support that we get as athletes, whether we're playing at home or away."

It can be difficult to convince the ever-humble Mooney her name belongs in that top echelon, but the statistics speak for themselves.

In her 99 T20Is to date, the 30-year-old has struck 2,842 runs in 93 innings at an average of 40.6, with a strike rate of 123.67.

Those numbers include two centuries and a remarkable 23 half-centuries, and no Australian woman has passed fifty on more occasions – not even the legendary Meg Lanning (17) or Mooney’s opening partner, Alyssa Healy (18).

Worldwide, the only player to have scored more runs going into their 100th T20I was West Indies great Stafanie Taylor, who was marginally ahead with 2,894.

Mooney is also just 93 runs short of going past Belinda Clark's mark of 5,662 international runs across all formats, which would place her inside the top five for Australia behind Meg Lanning (8,352), Ellyse Perry (6,764), Alyssa Healy (6,371), and Karen Rolton (6,221).

"When you first grow up, you just want to get as many opportunities as you can and evolve your game along the way," Mooney said.

"I've been fortunate to get the opportunity to open the batting for a high percent of those 100 T20Is and I just feel really grateful that I've had lots of support along the way.

"Those other players on that list are players that have had a remarkable impact on the game, and I don't probably look at myself in the same light as I do with those guys, but I guess it's nice on a personal front to be recognised like that."

Mooney spent several years in Australian squads before making her international debut, touring as a reserve wicketkeeper for Healy at the 2014 T20 World Cup in Bangladesh and at the 2015 Ashes.

Her debut finally came shortly before the 2016 T20 World Cup in India, having proven she deserved a spot in the XI as a standalone batter after a brilliant inaugural WBBL season.

Fittingly, it was current Australia coach Shelley Nitschke who presented Mooney with her T20I cap at Adelaide Oval in early 2016.

At the time, Mooney did not personally know the former Australia allrounder, but in the years since Nitschke joined Australia as an assistant coach in 2018 the pair have forged a close bond.

"I'd obviously watched Shell a fair bit playing for Australia, she was a bit of a GOAT for us and so I was just pumped that she took the time to come and present it ... it was really special," Mooney said.

"(The cap) was one that I didn't think I was going to get.

"It's probably come full circle, we're still here today and in different roles than we were on that day.

"To have her here (now) as a pretty important mentor on and off the field has been really cool."

Dubbed ‘Ms Consistent’ by her teammates, Mooney’s incredible reliability at the top of the order has played a significant role in Australia’s success over the period since her debut.

She was somewhat overshadowed by a flashier knock from Alyssa Healy in the T20 World Cup final at the MCG, but she top-scored with 78 not out in front of 86,174 in that decider and was player of the tournament with her 259 runs across the triumphant campaign.

Likewise, Mooney top-scored when Australia won Commonwealth Games gold in Birmingham, striking 61 against India, and was again player of the match in the 2023 T20 World Cup final with an unbeaten 74.

"The World Cup final at the MCG is probably up there, and the Comm Games final, and just a few other finals where I've been able to have a little bit of impact on the outcome of the game and contribute to the success of this team," Mooney said when asked about the highlights of her 99 T20Is to date.

"I've been very lucky to play in a successful team where, even if I don't score runs, it's nice to see some of my mates doing their job at the other end."

CommBank T20I Series v New Zealand   

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

New Zealand squad: Sophie Devine (c), Suzie Bates, Eden Carson, Izzy Gaze, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Fran Jonas, Leigh Kasperek, Jess Kerr, Melie Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Molly Penfold, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu

First T20: Australia defeated New Zealand by five wickets

Second T20: September 22, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 7.10pm

Third T20: September 24, Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 7.10pm