IND W vs IRE W: Jemimah Rodrigues’ maiden ODI century and strong innings from the top-order batsmen helped India beat Ireland by 116 runs in the second women’s ODI here on Sunday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
After scoring 370 runs for five wickets, India restricted Ireland to 254 runs for seven wickets in 50 overs. Apart from playing an aggressive innings of 73 runs in 54 balls, captain Smriti Mandhana gave a fast start to India by making a partnership of 156 runs in 114 balls with Pratika Rawal (67 runs in 60 balls) for the first wicket.
Jemima hit 12 fours in her innings of 102 runs in 91 balls. He made a big partnership of 183 runs in 168 balls for the third wicket with Harleen Deol (89 runs on 84 balls) and ensured the team’s big score. Indian batsmen took advantage of Ireland’s weak bowling and hit 44 fours and three sixes in 50 overs. Under the pressure of India’s big score, Ireland’s batsmen focused on playing the full 50 overs instead of aggressive batting and the team was never in a position to win. Christina Coulter Reilly played a brilliant inning of 80 runs but the batsmen from the other end failed to play a big inning.
Ireland’s batsmen struggled against the spin bowling duo of Deepti Sharma and Priya Mishra. Experienced Deepti took three wickets for 37 runs while Priya took two wickets for 53 runs. Titas Sadhu and Sayali Satghare got one success each. Jemima had to wait for 41 matches to score her century in ODIs. Before this he has six half-centuries to his name. He completed his century by hitting a four against medium pace bowler Arlene Kelly and then celebrated it by making a guitar-playing gesture with his bat.
After this century, he told the match’s broadcaster (Sports 18), “I had to wait a long time to complete this century. I am happy that the team gave me the role at number four and I could perform well. Today, it was important for me to stay at the crease till the 50th over. Scoring runs is not a problem for me, I am in the rhythm of it but it was important to stay at the crease till the end and I am glad I could do that. For Ireland, Kelly and Orla Prendergast got two wickets each while Georgina Dempsey got one wicket. Got success.
