CARRYING her bat through their innings, Australian batter Beth Mooney was a force to behold on Saturday night at Adelaide Oval taking her team to another thumping win. Although the series is not live, Australia wanted to keep notching up the wins to take it through to the hotly-anticipated test in form.

Mooney took player of the match honours after taking a stronghold over the English bowlers. The powerful batter brought about the consistent hitting that her side was after, striking her 94 runs at 149.21.

Her innings included ten boundaries, all fours, showcasing her ability to keep troubling the opposition bowlers. She also managed the most non-boundary runs by an Australian woman in a T20 international, running 54 off 53 runs in her innings, this included 12 twos and 30 singles.

Georgia Voll was also a crucial player in the first half, able to help open the batting and helped establish a platform for Mooney to be the aggressor. After the point that Voll was dismissed, there was a steady flow of wickets with Phoebe Litchfield (12 off 10), Ellyse Perry (12 off 11) and Grace Harris (11 off 10) all out after facing about 10 balls each.

Finishing the innings alongside Mooney was the acting skipper Tahlia McGrath, who was able to stay for the remaining two balls, despite a run-out chance that went begging for the visitors.

The batting performance was solid considering it looked like it was not as easy to bat on as usual at the venue, coupled with the fact that they were missing all-rounder Ash Gardner with a calf strain, a precautionary measure with an eye to the MCG fixture next week.

For the England bowlers, it was Charlie Dean that was the most effective, she bowled out her four overs for just 21 runs while taking the all-important wicket of Perry. Linsey Smith (1-30 off four) was another economical bowler, but the wickets came from Sophie Ecclestone (1-37 off four) and Alice Capsey (1-25 off three) were more costly.

Missing all-rounder Maia Bouchier as well as bowlers Sarah Glenn and Lauren Bell (illness), England were seeking a line-up that might change their fortunes, they brought in Capsey, Smith and Lauren Filer, with Sophia Dunkley promoted to open with Capsey at first drop.

In the batting innings for England, it was a steady stream of wickets that was the downfall, chasing 169, they just were not aggressive enough when compared to the Australians. The opening pair looked solid enough, until Dunkley (five off five balls) was undone by Darcie Brown, who was in the side at Kim Garth’s omission.

The number three had a short stay at the crease, out for a run-a-ball six, dismissed by Alana King during the third over. One of the pillars of their defence, Danni Wyatt-Hodge hit two consecutive boundaries off Annabel Sutherland, but she got her revenge taking the wicket of Natalie Sciver-Brunt (one off three) in the following over.

When Wyatt-Hodge was finally dismissed (17 off 15), it was Amy Jones who fell the ball after, both victims of Georgia Wareham’s tight bowling.

Netting just seven runs before Freya Kemp’s stay at the crease was over, England continued their poor batting with Dean entering the dug-out just three balls later.

After a frustrating result for the England captain Heather Knight on Thursday, she continued her batting form, following up her unbeaten 43 runs with 40 from 38 balls on Saturday to continue to push the home side.

Spinner Ecclestone (five off 12) had a crucial role in her side’s batting and was able to assist Knight in the middle, staying for about five overs, while rotating the strike.

Off the final ball in McGrath’s first bowling over, she knocked over Smith who was run-out, bringing the final batter Filer to the middle. Her team needed 80 runs from the remaining 4.3 overs but they just managed 90, ending the innings 73 short of Australia’s total.

The bowlers that were effective for the home side were Brown, McGrath and Wareham. Brown took the wickets of Dunkley and Kemp, McGrath got Knight, while Wareham took the scalps of Wyatt-Hodge, Jones and Dean).

McGrath’s 1-4 was particularly impressive off just 1.3 overs, clearly enjoying the home ground advantage and a raucous applause from the crowd.

This Ashes series concludes with the MCG test match to be played from next Thursday, giving the teams a few days to rest and prepare for the pink ball day-night affair.