Australian wicketkeeper-batter Beth Mooney is on the cusp of an important feat ahead of the finale of the Women's Ashes series, the day-night Test match.
When she dons the baggy green at the MCG from Thursday, Mooney has the opportunity to become the standalone fourth-greatest Australian female run-scorer across all formats.
Mooney's unbeaten 94 runs during the third and final T20I match of the series at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night saw the Victorian product draw level with Australian Cricket Hall of Fame member Karen Rolton in fourth place on the country's list of top female run scorers across all formats.
Beth Mooney in action for Australia. Jeremy Ng via Getty Images
As she almost single-handedly carried Australia to another victory over England, the left-hander joined Rolton on 6,221 international runs.
Positioned equal fourth, only Meg Lanning (8,352), Ellyse Perry (7,224) and Alyssa Healy (6,707) have more runs across their career.
"There have been plenty of times throughout my career, early doors, that I didn't think I'd score one run. So that's pretty cool," Mooney said post-match of her effort.
"I certainly don't play the game for those individual accolades, but I'm under no illusion to the fact that I've had a significant amount of help along the way, not only with the coaches that have thrown me a million balls but people back home who've supported me through thick and thin, unconditionally.
"I'm just really proud to have been able to repay the favour and score some runs and contribute to some wins.
"Hopefully at the ripe old age of 31, I've still got a few more left in me."
Beth Mooney bats during game three of the T20I portion of the Women's Ashes series. Getty
Mooney opened the multi-format series with knocks of 28 and 12 in the first two ODIs but has since hit 50, 75, 44 and 94 not out to accumulate of total of 303 runs.
Second to Mooney, the next highest run scorer is England captain Heather Knight with 172 runs.
"I was battling for some runs early in this series," she said.
"I went back to the drawing board and worked out how I wanted to play with the coaches … fortunately it has come off and hopefully, there's a few more runs left in me."
If Mooney can add another 102 runs to her tally across Australia's two innings at the MCG, she will also set a new record for most runs in a single Ashes series having surpassed English all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt's 404 runs during the 2023 edition.
With the achievement, Mooney could also add another illusive milestone to her cricketing resume: a Test century.
Mooney averages 37.75 in the longest format, with her best knock of 85 during the last Women's Ashes Test at Trent Bridge in 2023.
She has passed fifty on four occasions in her last 12 innings but has her eye on a maiden Test ton.
"A century in the Test match would be amazing but we can't look too far ahead," she said.
"I'm just really looking forward to the spectacle of the game, to be honest."
Australia leads the points-based series 12-0 after winning all the ODI and T20I matches, with the four-day Test match the last piece to a series whitewash.
The day-night Test gets underway at 2:30pm AEDT on Thursday.
