Jemimah Rodrigues, an experienced batter, gave a remarkable performance as she and Richa Ghosh maintained their composure under pressure to lead India to a seven-wicket victory over their long-standing rivals Pakistan in their first match of the Women’s T20 World Cup in Cape Town on Saturday.
With Jemimah scoring 53* off 38 balls and Richa 31* off 20 balls, the two formed an unbeaten 58-run partnership to reach their highest successful chase of 151/3 in 19 overs. Shafali Verma and Yastika Bhatia opened the Indian innings, putting up 38 runs in 5.3 overs in the powerplay.
Jemimah narrowly avoided being out in a stumping call as India reached 67 for 2 with their experienced captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, at the crease. Harmanpreet hit a boundary in the third delivery she faced, and then did the same in the 11th over, raising India’s total.
However, in the 13.3rd over, she tried to hit a slog-sweep across the line and against the turn, and the top edge was easily taken by Bismah Maroof, causing India to be reduced to 93 for 3. India needed 83 more runs in the last 10 overs with certain key wickets lost, but the strong start and their batting depth kept them in the running.
With the run rate climbing, India needed 47 runs from the last five overs, and with Jemimah and Richa getting boundaries often, the equation became 28 runs from three overs. Needing 14 from the last two overs, Jemimah struck three fours in the penultimate over to quickly finish the match.
After deciding to bat first, Pakistan had a shaky start, falling to 43 for 3 in the eighth over. However, their captain Bismah Maroof (68 not out) and Ayesha Naseem (43 not out) put on an impressive 81-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
Maroof hit seven fours in her 55-ball inning, as Naseem struck two fours and two sixes from 25 balls. Pakistan eventually ended their innings on 149 for 4, their highest total in a T20 World Cup, with 58 runs scored from the last five overs. This was due to Maroof and Naseem frustrating the Indian bowlers for more than eight overs.
