“Girls doing it in style is icing on the cake”- Twitter goes berserk as Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh star in India’s thrilling victory over Pakistan
Chasing a 150-run target, India found themselves in a spot of bother when they lost early wickets.
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Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh
Harmanpreet Kaur and co. won their campaign opener against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday (February 10) at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town. Top knocks from Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Verma propelled their side to a thrilling seven-wicket victory.
Chasing a 150-run target, India found themselves in a spot of bother when they lost early wickets. But opener Shafali Verma and later, No.3 batter Jemimah Rodrigues steadied the ship. And when they were showing signs of recovery, Pakistan got Shafali.
Then Pakistan trapped skipper Harmanpreet Kaur as well. It was difficult to say who got the upper hand at that time. But Rodrigues did not stop and kept her cool. When wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh entered, she played her shots, and soon they found themselves closer to the target.
Wickets in the last overs could have turned the table, but the duo of Rodrigues and Ghosh did not lose theirs. Instead, they kept playing shots and a four off Rodrigues’ bat ensured India the victory by seven wickets. Interestingly, it was the second-highest successful run-chase in Women’s T20 World Cup history.
Check how Twitter reacted to India’s victory and Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh’ knocks
Rodrigues, with that boundary, also completed her unbeaten half-century. In her 53-run knock from 38 balls, she smashed eight boundaries. Richa Ghosh sent the ball to the boundary ropes five times in her 20-ball 31-run knock. In the post-match presentation, Rodrigues’ knock rewarded her with the Player of the Match award.
“I don’t know what to say. I knew building partnerships, taking it deep we’d end up chasing. Richa and I have built a partnership against Bangladesh, and we could do this today. This innings is really special to me, I haven’t getting runs for a while but I’ve stuck to the processes,” Rodrigues said at the post-match presentation.
Earlier, Pakistan skipper Bismah Maroof won the toss and elected to bat first. Despite a horrible start, Maroof’s half-century knock alongside Ayesha Naseem’s unbeaten quick-fire (43*) ensured their team to a respectable total of 149/4 in 20 overs. In no time, they stitched an unbroken 81-run stand.
India will now face Hayley Matthews-led West Indies in their second match on February 15 in Cape Town. Bismah Maroof’s women will lock horns with Ireland on the same day at the same venue.
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Gouri Das
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