Photo Credit: ICC
Beth Mooney believes Australia’s insatiable appetite for winning helped haul them to victory in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 final.
The player of the final crashed an unbeaten 74 off just 53 balls to help her side to 156 for six from their 20 overs, before a see-saw South Africa innings ended with the holders coming out on top once again by 19 runs.
Their victory in front of a packed-out Newlands marked their third T20 World Cup title in a row – and sixth overall – to see them continue to hold both the T20 and ODI World Cups.
And Mooney, 29, said: “We want to continue winning as many as there is out there.
“We don’t get tired of it.
“Something we speak about as a group is making sure we’re always evolving along the way, I think we’ve seen in this tournament, there are teams around the world getting better and better as the years go on.
“And we know that we’re being hunted, people are looking at us for what we do, and how we go about it, so certainly, it won’t last forever.
“But we’ll enjoy it for as long as we can, and hopefully we can keep piling up those trophies and enjoying our streak.”
Mooney lost her opening partner Alyssa Healy in the fifth over and looked stuck after Shabnim Ismail delivered a maiden in the very next over.
But she showed her class to recover, bringing up her half-century from 44 balls which marked her second consecutive fifty in T20 World Cup finals.
She then found a willing partner in Ashleigh Gardner, who made 29 from 21 before being expertly caught by South Africa skipper Sune Luus.
Grace Harris and Meg Lanning both departed for 10, before two wickets in Ismail’s final over left the game in the balance.
Mooney added: “The game is never over until it’s over, I think that’s what keeps bringing us back.
“We fought really hard against India, it was an exciting contest, but we know if we’re half a per cent off here and there in T20 World Cups, you can lose the game.
“For us, it’s never boring. I think we’re always in a contest and always in a fight.”
Australia restricted South Africa to only 22 runs in the powerplay as Darcie Brown had Tazmin Brits caught for 10.
Their slow start weakened the effect of powerful hitting from Laura Wolvaardt and Chloe Tryon in the middle overs, with the former’s dismissal for 61 from 48 ending South Africa’s slim chances.
The final over was a nerveless affair as Australia came together to celebrate another World Cup victory, but Mooney believes this is the first of a new era under coach Shelley Nitschke after Matthew Mott’s move to the England white-ball setup.
“We were very successful when Motty [Matthew Mott] moved on,” Mooney said.
“And I think that the next challenge for us is something that really excites us and this is step one of that challenge post-Commonwealth Games, and we’ll wait and see what’s next for this group.
“But at the moment, I think it’s just really important for us to enjoy it, it’s been a long slog the last six months so, it’ll be a great opportunity for us to enjoy it.”
