As big-game players go, they don't get much better than Beth Mooney.
Four fifties in four consecutive global tournament finals speaks volumes for just how much the Australian opener and wicketkeeper relishes the big stage. Sunday afternoon at Lord's before a crowd of 28,887 people was no different as she broke English hearts with a Player-of-the-Match performance which led Australia to a seventh T20 World Cup crown.
It was the second such honour for Mooney in the title decider of this tournament, having also won Player of the Match in 2023, the first time anyone has done so twice, and she is also the first player to win multiple Player-of-the-Tournament awards, adding to her achievement at her victorious home T20 World Cup in 2020. Her secret is simple.
"I just hate losing, to be honest," Mooney said. "I know what it feels like at times. I see a bit of red out there when the game's on the line as well. It's really important to go out there and make sure you do your job and do it when it counts."
Mooney followed scores of 7 and 10 in the first two games of Australia's unbeaten campaign this time around by reaching 74 before she retired hurt against Netherlands suffering from back soreness in the third.
After a duck against Pakistan, when she went on to play a pivotal role behind the stumps despite twice dislocating her finger in play, she made 22 against India. But she saved her best for last. An unbeaten 61 as Australia demolished West Indies in the semi-finals was topped with 64 off 49 against hosts England in a record run chase for a T20 World Cup final.
After a tentative start - scoring 9 off the first 11 balls she faced - Mooney made it look she was batting on a different pitch to England, a tricky surface where they struggled to get going and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt dug in for a patient 58 off 53 before Freya Kemp broke free with an unbeaten 44 off 28.
After Georgia Voll fell on the 11th ball of the Australian innings, Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield combined for a century stand for the second wicket to take the game away from England, reeling in bulk of their 150 for 4.
The last of Mooney's 10 boundaries came in a flourish of three in four balls off Kemp, guided then edged through fine leg and lofted over mid-off.
Shelley Nitschke, Australia's head coach, told the host broadcaster immediately after the match of how Mooney could always be counted on to stand up in the clutch moments and Mooney jokingly played on that when speaking to reporters later.
"I probably didn't start the tournament that well, but I've told Shell to just pick me for the finals now and don't worry about the round games," Mooney quipped with typical dry humour, "so we might see what happens at the next tournament."
Mooney's performance - which also included a brilliant take on second attempt to remove a brush off the glove by Danni Wyatt-Hodge, the tournament's leading run-scorer for just 8 - also drew warm approval from her captain, Sophie Molineux.
"Mooney is incredible," Molineux said. "She's built for finals. She is so incredibly consistent. I think her game's gotten better over the last few months. She plays with this freedom, but at the same time she's probably the smartest cricketer I've ever played with.
"The way she can sum up situations and be able to grind out innings at the same time. Today she has got all the shots and is able to play freely. She's got nerves of steel, Mooney.
"It's been so cool to see her really flourish over the last few months. She's a leader in this group. Girls listen when she speaks. She's the backbone to our batting group. Her behind the stumps was just next level today."
Mooney - who never hits a ball on the day of a game before she walks into the middle and explains her "nerves of steel", as Molineux describes them, as simply not allowing herself to "get too up or down" in any given situation on the field - modestly accepted her captain's praise.
"It's a great compliment from Soph, but I think I'm a little bit of a fraud," Mooney said. "I might be much better if I started looking at the analyst packs and worked out where the bowlers were bowling at me. I just enjoy the contest, enjoy getting better and evolving my game and enjoy contributing to team success, whatever team that is."
England had routinely opened their bowling with left-arm spinner Linsey Smith alongside seamer Lauren Bell. But they opted for offspinner Charlie Dean to start against the left-hander, Mooney.
It backfired slightly when Voll took strike and drove the first ball of the match down the ground for four, although Voll was bowled by Bell next over. That left Mooney and Litchfield to work their magic, the latter contributing 48 off 35 balls.
"I figured it was to try and get me out pretty early in the game," Mooney said of the Dean match-up. "One of the best pieces of advice I've got from a coach before is that I should wear it as a bit of a badge of honour that people have to plan and come up with new ideas against me - I should be really privileged to be in that position.
"I thought Georgia Voll played that first ball beautifully and just hit it down the ground and really set the tone. Whilst they decided to bowl Deano, we can still decide who faces the first ball."
While this victory might seem to the outside world to be just another Australian win, a boring reminder of the gap between them and the rest, it means a lot to this team.
Australia entered the tournament holding no trophies for the first times since 2018, having been knocked out in the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup and last year's 50-over version. So this represented a return to their culture of success, which has made them the envy of their opponents for years, and an illustration of their almost pathological aversion to losing, as expressed so simply by Mooney.
Playing at her sixth T20 World Cup and winning her fourth, Mooney said this team was up there with the best she's played with.
"One of the things that's stuck in my mind the last couple of days is the sense of calmness that's sat amongst the group," she said. "The last time I felt like that was during the T20 World Cup back at home in Australia [in 2020].
"When we made the final, there was almost this sense of relief that we'd made the final so we could go out and enjoy it. There was a little bit of that feeling that I had going into this game."
Enjoy it they did and , if this victory is to spark a return to the dominance that their triumph at the MCG six years ago characterised - Australia went on to win the 50-over title in 2022 and the next T20 World Cup - so help the rest.