Jemimah's all round performance power India to a victory
Ashwin Jangam
July 19, 2023
Women in Blue redeem the first odi loss, by winning it big against Bangladesh women in 2nd Odi. Jemimah Rodrigues' all-round performance played a major role in the victory for India. Playing a knock of 86 runs while batting she helped India reach to a decent total, and then went on to scalp 4 Bangla batters to help them restrict to a lesser total. Her heroics helped India win by a huge margin of 108 runs.
High in confidence by registering their first win over India in 1st odi, Bangla team decided to field after winning the toss. India needed their batters to step up , as the batting woes haunted them earlier. And the 3 most experienced batters stepped up for India. Smriti started well and looked good , but was dismissed for 36. Skipper Harmanpreet scored a gritty half century even after being retired hurt. And the most important contribution came from Jemimah Rodrigues.
Jemimah firmly stood on the slow pitch, and quickly adjusted to the wicket and Bangla spinners. And once she had her eye in, she thrashed the Bangla bowlers all over the park scoring 86 runs off 78 deliveries. She kept controlled aggressive approach , and barely took any risks. She built partnership firstly with skipper Harman, and then Harleen Deol, finally taking India to a decent total of 228 runs on a difficult pitch post the completion of 50 overs.
Furthermore, ahe continued her Contribution with the ball. She scalped 4 wickets, including important wicket of Nigar Sultana, and conceded just 3 runs in the match. Devika Vaidya grabbed 3 wickets , further depleting Bangla resources. Deepthi, Meghana , Rana scalped 1 each. Yastika Bhatia pulled of 3 stumpings in the match. And the star of the day, Jemimah out the final nail in Bangla team's coffin, by dismissing Maruf Akter and ending Bangladesh innings for 120 runs.
Throughout the match Jemimah looked confident. When she gets going with the bat, she possesses a different kind of energy and enthusiasm, which was evident in the match. Speaking of her all round performance, Jemimah said " I was frustrated to not being able to perform in previous matches. I am a player from Mumbai and I am used to conditions like these where we have slow turning tracks. If there is someone who should step up in these conditions, it's me and I'm glad to have done it today". One can hope to see Jemimah see perform the same in next match. And with the gained confidence, one would expect Women in Blue to win the next match and the series.