If Beth Mooney's ridiculous form with the bat continues, she could set a new high water mark on the runs tally
Mooney in rare form, on track for record
Brisbane Heat star Beth Mooney is on track to break Australian teammate Ellyse Perry’s Rebel WBBL runs record, with the Queenslander in a rich vein of form heading into the second half of the regular season.
After eight innings in teal, Mooney has scored 441 runs at an average of 88.20, including five half-centuries.
We've just ticked past the halfway mark of the season, and with so little separating the teams, every match from this point on is crucial! Here's what's on in the week ahead #WBBL05 pic.twitter.com/J12VXJNvHC— Rebel Women's Big Bash League (@WBBL) November 14, 2019
Last summer, Sixers skipper Perry smashed the previous record of 560, belonging to Australian captain Meg Lanning, to finish a stunning season with 777 runs at 86.33.
Taking not outs out of the equation, Perry averaged 48.56 runs per innings last season.
Currently, Mooney is averaging 55.13.
With Perry’s Sixers making the final in WBBL|04, she had a full 16 innings to score her runs.
With defending champions Brisbane currently on top of the ladder, there is a good chance Mooney too will have the benefit of playing finals – particularly if her current form continues.
"I don’t think she’d be thinking about (beating Perry’s record)," Brisbane Heat allrounder Delissa Kimmince told cricket.com.au.
"As long as she’s doing her job for the team, I think that’s all she’s focused on.
"To beat Pez’s record would be pretty amazing if she could do it, but she’d be focusing on getting the wins for us."
Mooney, who has played 41 T20Is for Australia and who will be key at the top of the order alongside Alyssa Healy in next year’s T20 World Cup on home soil, is no stranger to making big runs in the Big Bash.
But her numbers this year are at a whole other level, with Mooney needing just 45 more runs to record her best-ever season.
In WBBL|01, she struck 400 runs at 33.33, form that saw her made her Australian debut one month later.
In WBBL|02 she hit 482 from 15 innings as the Heat were knocked out of the semi-final, while in the third edition Mooney struck 465 from 14 as her side missed finals.
Last summer was her highest yet, the left-hander hitting 486 runs including a courageous 65 that set up a stunning upset over the Sixers in the final.
"She’s always been consistent for us but there’s something (else) at the moment, she just doesn’t want to get out," Kimmince said.
"She probably doesn’t want to sit with us on the bench, I’m not sure.
"Having her at the top of the order, if she can bat deep like she has the last few games for us, it makes it easier for the girls coming in to work around her."
The Heat have six regular season matches left to play, including two at Sydney’s Drummoyne Oval this weekend, against the Thunder on Saturday night at 7.10pm before they meet the Scorchers at 10am the following day.
Meanwhile, Perry herself is enjoying another brilliant season in magenta, second behind Mooney on the WBBL|05 runs table with 351 from seven innings, including three half-centuries.
Three players have passed the 300-mark so far, with Adelaide Strikers’ Sophie Devine (335 at 55.83) the third.
Beth Mooney’s WBBL|05 so far
50 v Sixers, North Sydney Oval, October 19
35 v Thunder, North Sydney Oval, October 20
67 v Scorchers, Allan Border Field, October 26
44* v Hurricanes, Allan Border Field, October 27
73 v Strikers, Harrup Park, November 2
77* v Strikers, Harrup Park, November 3
25 v Sixers, North Sydney Oval, November 9
70* v Stars, Junction Oval, November 13