Beth Mooney says Australia ‘don’t tire’ of winning after retaining T20 World Cup
Beth Mooney hailed Australia’s winning mentality after retaining their Women’s T20 World Cup title with a 19-run victory over hosts South Africa in Cape Town.
Mooney top-scored in Sunday’s final at Newlands with an unbeaten 74 off 53 balls as Australia made 156 for six after choosing to bat first.
Named player of the match, Mooney became the first person to record two fifty-plus scores in Women’s T20 World Cup finals, having also scored an unbeaten 78 during Australia’s victory over India in the 2020 showpiece.
In-form South Africa opener Laura Wolvaardt contributed 61 to keep her side in contention in their first final appearance, but the Proteas came just short in their quest to become world champions.
Australia have now won six T20 crowns in eight editions and are also the reigning 50-over world champions – a tournament they have won a record seven times – but Mooney insisted they “don’t get tired of winning” after lifting their latest trophy.
She told a press conference: “It’s an absolute privilege to be able to play on this team.
“We’ve been very successful over a number of years and I just love waking up in the morning and putting on my Australian shirt
“We can win as many (titles) as there is out there, we don’t get tired of it. Something we speak about as a group is making sure we are always evolving along the way.
“What we’ve seen in this tournament is there are teams around the world getting better and better as the years go on and we know we are being hunted and there are people always looking at us.
“Hopefully we can keep piling up those trophies and enjoying our streak.”
Mooney was quick to congratulate Ash Gardner after she was named player of the tournament.
The 25-year-old all-rounder played a key role for Australia with both bat and ball, picking up 10 wickets – only England’s Sophie Ecclestone took more – and notching 110 runs at an average of 36.66 across six matches.
Mooney, 29, added: “I think she’s matured immensely over the last few years.
“Off the field and within her own game she’s hit the sweet spot in terms of how comfortable and confident she is in her own game.
“She’s making some match-winning contributions consistently in this Australian team and I’ve been really impressed from what I’ve seen from Ash and she’s going to be around for a long time.”
Despite falling at the final hurdle, South Africa skipper Sune Luus is excited for the future and believes they have shown they can challenge the best sides in the world.
The Proteas beat highly-fancied England in the semi-finals but fell just short against pre-tournament favourites Australia on Sunday, finishing on 137 for six in pursuit of 157.
She said: “I’m just extremely proud of the girls, even though we didn’t get the result we wanted today, we have done some brilliant things here.
“As a captain, I couldn’t be happier. Doesn’t matter the result or what happened today, as a player, team-mate and captain I’m so proud of every single person here.
“We really just enjoyed our cricket (on the way to the final). We played as a unit and enjoyed each other’s company off the field as well.
“I think we are knocking on doors. We were so close to doing that to the best of the world.
“We’ve knocked over India, knocked over England, unfortunately we could not do it today but were so close. We have some talented people in our team and with the right resources, the right structures, we can get to that next level.”