Beth Mooney’s brain-fade moment puts India in the driver’s seat in IND vs AUS Test

Talk about an unlucky dismissal, and Beth Mooney will know all about it. The Australian opener was playing as well as she ever has in the IND vs AUS Women’s Test at Wankhede Stadium. Closing into her fourth half-century, it was going as Mooney and visitors from Australia would have wanted. However, a brain-fade moment has cut her stay in the middle short and put India in the driver’s seat.

Batting at 33, Beth Mooney was just 17 runs away from her first fifty in India. Having already reduced the trail from 187 to 138 and building on her 40 in the first inning, Mooney looked like she was getting a big one.

When it comes to brain fades they don’t come much worse than this

Beth Mooney run out in AUS’s second innings in Mumbai

#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/B6Fo96Q8Uv

— Glenn Mitchell (@MitchellGlenn) December 23, 2023

Similar to what Smriti Mandhana did earlier in the IND vs AUS Women’s Test, Beth Mooney was caught being too lazy. After defending the ball to Richa Ghost at forward short-leg, the southpaw decided to wander out of the crease.

Richa wasted no time and flicked the ball towards the stump as Mooney dragged the bat after the stumps had been disturbed. From 49-0, Australia was soon restricted to 56-2, with Phoebe Litchfield departing soon after.