Mooney's magical ton bails Australia out in Colombo

Despite being down at 76 for 7 at one point, Australia managed to secure a thumping 107-run win over Pakistan on Wednesday in Colombo, courtesy a finely-crafted century by Beth Mooney. The southpaw stroked a 114-ball 109, her maiden World Cup century, to revive Australia's innings before Pakistan's yet another poor show with the bat.

Australia made a relatively slow but steady start after being put in to bat. However, once Alyssa Healy fell chipping Sadia Iqbal to mid off, they suffered a rare batting collapse. Unable to come to terms with the slow nature of the pitch, the Australian batters recurrently went early into their shots and ended up chipping to the fielders in the in-field, or to the bowler.

Nashra Sandhu and Rameen Shamim were the chief beneficiaries as they combined to bag five wickets and ripped through Australia's middle order, leaving the world champions reeling at 76 for 7 by the 22nd over. Ellyse Perry, who stepped out of her crease, was tricked by the spin and stumped, while Ash Gardner, Tahlia McGrath and Georgia Wareham were dismissed softly chipping the ball to the fielders.

However, with Mooney adapting well to the slow nature of the pitching and playing her shots late, she ensured that Australia didn't have to panic. She found solid support in the company of Kim Garth, who was reserved with her strokes even as Pakistan's spinners repeatedly teased her with flighted deliveries. She survived a run out opportunity when Fatima Sana went too far from the stumps to collect a throw from the deep, and lost time to whip the bails as Garth scampered back for a risky two.

Mooney and Garth managed to keep the Pakistani bowlers at bay for more than 12 overs and arrested the slide, before a fine work of stumping from Sidra Nawaz had her sent back 34th over. Nawaz, who stood up to the pacers, had a fine day behind the stumps and despite dropping a tough chance of Alana King, was largely impressive.

However, Pakistan were unable to get through the last three wickets. Mooney's calculated attack and ample support from the lower order ensured that Australia entered the death overs and managed to go on the offensive. King was especially brutal towards the end, the brunt of which was mostly bourne by Diana Baig, who conceded 24 runs from her spell. Fatima was also hammered for 21 runs in the final over before she dismissed Mooney off the last delivery of Australia's innings. However, by then, King had brought up her maiden ODI half-century, and in the company of Mooney, had stitched the biggest ever partnership for the ninth-wicket in women's cricket - 106 runs - which allowed Australia to post a competitive 221 for 9.

In response, Pakistan never threatened to offer much of a challenge in the run chase. Even as the in-form Sidra Amin got going with a couple of confident boundaries, the Australian pacers kept chipping away with wickets far too frequently for Pakistan's comfort, reducing them to 49 for 6.

By the 22nd over, even Amin departed while looking to hit over the in-field, and Pakistan were reduced to 78 for 7 - marginally better placed than their counterparts at that stage.

However, unlike Australia, Pakistan's tail was unlikely to offer a similar fightback. Rameen Shamim and Nashra Sandhu did put up a better resistance, than their top-order, battling for more than 11 overs, but victory was well out of sight by then. Each of the six Australian bowlers chipped in with at least a wicket each as Pakistan folded up for 114.

Three games down, Pakistan continue to remain without a win, and will next face table-toppers England three days later. Australia, on the other hand, will return to India to face the hosts in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.

Brief Scores: Australia 221/9 in 50 overs (Beth Mooney 109, Alana King 51*; Nashra Sandhu 3-37, Rameen Shamim 2-29) beat Pakistan 114 in 36.3 overs (SIdra Amin 35, Rameen Shamim 15; Kim Garth 3-14, Annabel Sutherland 2-15) by 107 runs