One of the finest young batters in the Indian women’s team, Jemimah Rodrigues, hits 2nd ODI century against South Africa and secures a spot in the finals.
India was struggling when Jemimah came to bat, but not only did she maintain the tempo, but she also helped the team post the highest ODI score for the women’s team against South Africa in ODI.
Let’s know in detail how the game panned out.
Early Struggles For India
South Africa won the toss and put India into bat. In the slow and low wicket of Colombo, the South African team took early advantage.
Within the first 7 overs, South Africa had already taken 3 wickets and pushed the team on the back foot. Pratika Rawal, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Harleen Deol all got out cheaply.
India was looking for a good partnership, and the likes of Jemimah and Deepti Sharma put them through. De Klerk, Klaas, and Deckersen were wreaking havoc when Jemi came into bat.
SUGGESTED READ: Sri Lanka Will Host Bangladesh in June–July 2025
Calm and Composed Middle Order Batting
When Jemimah came into bat, the Indian women’s team was struggling. Even though they were playing quickly, losing too many wickets seemed tough. However, Jemimah took matters into her own hands.
Jemimah Rodrigues hit 2nd ODI century by the time she was dismissed in the 43rd over. The score of the Indian team was 260 for the loss of 5 wickets when Jemi got out.
Jemimah made 123 runs from 101 balls with the help of 15 fours and 1 six. The strike rate of 121.78 meant that the Indian middle-order batter never let the momentum go below the rate.
India Put On 337 Runs
As India lost three wickets in the powerplay, nobody thought that they would go on to put 337 runs on the board, but they did. Jemimah Rodrigues hit the 2nd ODI century, and Deepti provided ample support.
She batted and put through a good partnership of more than 100 runs with Jemi. Deepti herself made 93 runs from 84 balls and provided the much-needed momentum. In the end, India piled up 337, which could be tough to chase.
South Africa Fought Hard But Lost The Match
It would have been easier for the Proteas batting to fall from the ruins, but they didn’t. They tried chasing down the total and did pretty well. By the end of 50 overs, South Africa had scored 314 runs, only to lose by 23 runs.
Annerie Dercksen, who bowled well, scored 81 runs with the bat. The stand-in skipper, Chloe Tryon, made 67 runs from 43 balls to give massive hope to the batting side.
But 3 wickets from Amanjot Kaur and 2 from Deepti Sharma meant that the hopes were squashed right then and there. India reached the finals of the Sri Lanka Women’s ODI Tri-series.
YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED: Virat Kohli Thinking of Retiring From Test Cricket
