Mooney's milestones steer Aussies to 'emphatic' win

It was fitting that as Beth Mooney ticked off two significant milestones at Allan Border Field on Tuesday night, it was while playing a match-winning innings in a crucial match for Australia.

Mooney's 76 from 79 deliveries ensured Australia's pursuit of 215 in the opening ODI against India culminated in a routine win to level the multi-format series at four points apiece.

In the process, she ticked past 3,000 one-day runs, and 7,000 runs across all international formats.

The 32-year-old is the seventh Australian woman to 3,000 runs, while just three of those – Meg Lanning, Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy – are members of the 7k club.

The run machine, who has been dubbed 'Mrs Consistent', is quickly erasing the margin between herself and that trio, adding 1,076 runs to her tally in 2025.

Tuesday's innings also came less than a week after Mooney overtook Lanning to become Australia's highest T20I run scorer, male or female.

"I didn't know that (milestone) came up tonight but certainly when I first started playing in this team, I didn't think I'd be on too many lists alongside those three players," Mooney said following Australia's six-wicket win.

"It's probably a testament to being around for a long time, but also the opportunities that have been presented to me and I've been very grateful and lucky that the coaching staff that I've had throughout my career, and the selectors I've had have shown a lot of faith and trust in me to do different roles along the way and score a few runs here and there.

"So hopefully that's not the end, and I've got plenty more in me, but I'm feeling very lucky and privileged to have done it for as long as I have so far."

In classic Mooney fashion, the wicketkeeper-batter was more concerned with the fact she had contributed to a win, as Australia bounced back emphatically from their T20 series defeat.

Arriving at the crease with India left-arm spinner Sree Charani on a hat-trick having removed Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll with consecutive deliveries, Mooney saw off the threat then shared in a crucial 64-run stand with skipper Alyssa Healy.

"I think it was pretty emphatic in the end, I was disappointed to get out when I did, leaving 12 runs to get and sending someone else out there," Mooney said.

"But I think that's the style of cricket we want to play moving forward.

"If we'd batted first, the conditions might have been a little bit more challenging, but with where the scoreline was, we probably were going to push 300 so that's where we want to be as a batting group … making sure we're adapting with the conditions, but really taking the game on where we can.

"It's been a real privilege to play alongside Midge (Healy), and spend a fair bit of time out in the middle with her ... we've had some pretty amazing partnerships along the way, and I think tonight was much needed after back-to-back wickets, and just to see the way she adapts and changes her style of play based on the conditions and the situation in front of her has been class throughout her career.

"To share a partnership with her was pretty cool, and hopefully we've got a few more in us before the end of the series."

NRMA Insurance Australia v India Multi-Format Series

The multi-format series is tied 4-4

First T20I: India won by 21 runs (DLS)

Second T20I: Australia won by 19 runs

Third T20I: India won by 17 runs

Australia ODI squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Sophie Molineux (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

India ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Kashvee Gautam, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Uma Chetry, Harleen Deol, Pratika Rawal

February 24: Australia won by six wickets

February 27: Second ODI, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT

March 1: Third ODI, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT

Australia Test squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Sophie Molineux (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

India Test squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh, Sneh Rana, Amanjot Kaur, Uma Chetry, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Kranti Gaud, Vaishnavi Sharma, Sayali Satghare

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