Mooney and King too good for Brisbane Heat
Perth Scorchers were in trouble with the bat but the Australia opener lifted them to a defendable total
AAP
05-Nov-2024
Beth Mooney anchored Perth Scorchers' innings • Getty Images
Perth Scorchers 142 for 8 (Mooney 77) beat Brisbane Heat 114 (L Harris 40, King 5-16) by 28 runs
A smart half century from Beth Mooney and a five-wicket haul for spinner Alana King have propelled Perth Scorchers to a 28-run WBBL win over Brisbane Heat at the WACA.
Mooney rescued her side after a mid innings collapse left them precariously placed at 106 for 6 in the 17th over.
Laura Harris (40 off 21) threatened to snatch victory from Scorchers, bludgeoning 16 in the space of four balls from spinner Amy Edgar in the 17th over, to leave the visitors needing 31 off the last three.
But the end came quickly after King had Harris caught at long off. It was the first of three wicket in five balls, with just one run added, as Heat were dismissed for 114 with two overs left. King took all of the last four wickets as she returned her best WBBL figures.
Scorchers improved to 2-1 and Heat dropped to 2-2.
Scorchers were quite well placed at 81 for 2 in the 12th over, but lost 4 for 15 before Mooney boosted her side with some effective late hitting. She looked all at sea in the first over, playing and missing three times against impressive Indian quick Shikha Pandey.
Mooney put on 40 in an opening stand with Sophie Devine. Devine struck some handsome offside boundaries before being yorked by Nadine de Klerk.
Nicola Hancock induced two batters into mistiming a short ball and giving an easy catch.
Mooney struck just three fours in her first 40 runs of steady accumulation, but went through the gears and into overdrive in the last three overs. The prolific left-hander struck five of her nine fours in that period as the Heat piled up 34 runs off the last three, before she was bowled behind her legs by Hancock off the last ball of the innings.
Mooney appeared to injure a finger and handed the gloves over to England wicketkeeper Amy Jones halfway through Heat's innings.
Heat lost both openers in the powerplay and slumped to 38 for 3 in the sixth over, despite a typically belligerent start from opener Grace Harris.
They looked out of contention at 87 for 7 after 15 overs, but Laura Harris made them sweat before King's final over proved decisive.