Beth Mooney wants more from the Perth batting group, while she has also confirmed giving up the wicketkeeping gloves against the Heat was a precaution
Mooney calls for more from Scorchers batters
Beth Mooney says the Perth Scorchers "need a little bit more" from their batting group, as they look to turn the tables on the Melbourne Renegades on their home turf on Thursday night.
The Scorchers suffered a six-wicket defeat to the Renegades in Melbourne last Saturday, but Mooney said back-to-back wins, both defending lower totals, at the WACA ground in WBBL|10 would give the hosts confidence.
In three matches this season the Scorchers have posted totals of 8-122, 140 and 8-142 – with Mooney contributing 144 of those overall runs, including 77 on Tuesday against the Heat.
Opening partner Sophie Devine showed promising signs in that match as she hit five boundaries in a 22-ball 25, but Amy Jones was their next highest scorer with 10.
"The WACA's our home ground and we've played a lot of cricket here across my time at the Scorchers," Mooney said.
"We know the conditions, we know what happens at what time of day, and our bowlers have just stood up beautifully.
"We probably need a little bit more from the batting group, if we're being really critical, and hopefully Thursday night presents that opportunity for us.
"I was probably starved a little bit of the strike through the middle there.
"So, on a perfect day, perhaps I could go (harder) at the 12th or the 13th over and rely on the batters at the back end to get us to a big total, but that just wasn't how the game panned out today.
"The batters in our line-up are amazing batters and they can do a job, it just unfortunately wasn't their night tonight ... but if the opportunity presents again, I'm sure they'll step up and have their day as well."
In a boost for the Scorchers, Mooney also confirmed she had handed off the wicketkeeping gloves to Jones in Tuesday’s win over the Heat as a precaution after copping a blow to the hand.
Mooney was struck on the glove taking a catch off the bowling of Chloe Ainsworth to dismiss Heat opener Georgia Redmayne in the fourth over of the Heat’s chase.
She had her finger checked by medical staff and remained behind the stumps until the 11th over, but then passed over ‘keeping duties to England import Jones.
"Just a precaution … I've had a bit of trouble with this finger in the past, so I didn't really want to get another knock while I was keeping up to the stumps," she said.
"That seemed to be the way forward, especially to the pace bowlers, so I didn't want to do too much damage and miss out on having a bat on Thursday."
After bowling out the Stars and Heat for 109 and 114 respectively in their two games at home this season, Mooney said the Scorchers would be confident ahead of a crunch match against the Renegades.
The Scorchers currently sit inside the top four, with two wins from three games, and can further consolidate their position with a win over Melbourne before they hit the road again.
However they will need to contend with in-form Renegades skipper Sophie Molineux, who was pivotal in both of her team’s wins at the weekend, taking a career-best 4-17 against the Scorchers then backing up with the bat a day later against the Strikers, hammering a 32-ball 64.
"She's just very savvy with her bowling, she's got good changes," Mooney said of her Australian teammate.
"She's the best left-arm spinner going around in my eyes, so I think she knows her game and how to execute what ball and when and she nails it.
"She's a huge threat, especially to right-hand batters, so hopefully there's a left-hander out there at some point who can take her down."
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
REN
|
10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.527 | 0 | 14 |
|
2
HEA
|
10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.384 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
THU
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | -0.002 | 0 | 13 |
|
4
HUR
|
10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.189 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
SCO
|
10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | -0.171 | 0 | 9 |
|
6
SIX
|
10 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | -0.477 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
STR
|
10 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | -0.357 | 0 | 7 |
|
8
STA
|
10 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | -0.205 | 0 | 5 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points