Rajkot, Jan 14: A dominant India will fancy their chances of completing a clean sweep of the women’s ODI series against Ireland in the third and final match here on Wednesday, having recorded two convincing wins in the preceding games.
With another power-packed batting performance, the Indian team will be aiming to continue their impressive run and finish on a high note.
Pratika Rawal, after scoring her third half-century in just four innings, will be eager to translate her start into a maiden hundred.
Her blistering opening partnerships with skipper Smriti Mandhana have been the biggest takeaway of the series.
The duo added 156 runs for the first wicket in their previous outing, marking their third century-plus stand in five innings.
Mandhana’s consistency at the top continues to be a major highlight for India as the flamboyant left-hander has carried on her form across formats from the West Indies series.
Harleen Deol, who initially struggled for momentum, found her rhythm later in the innings, scoring an important 89.
Thanks to Jemimah Rodrigues, who displayed patience and composure before accelerating in the final stages of the innings, India smashed their highest-ever ODI total of 370/5 in the last game.
Promoted to No. 4 in Harmanpreet Kaur’s absence, Rodrigues showed maturity after getting a reprieve on 34, and it took her just 28 balls to reach her second fifty.
“It was an added responsibility… Initially I showed a lot of patience, which was again a big positive for me because it was important for me to spend time there to get those runs,” Rodrigues said.
“And you know, I was getting the runs. But I was not spending enough time to make it bigger. So I was happy I could do that today.”
Seasoned batter Tejal Hasanbis also made a fine comeback with an unbeaten fifty in the opening ODI.
In the absence of big hitters like Shafali Verma and Kaur, who has been rested, the series also highlighted the performance of the emerging talents with Pratika making the most of it.
India’s bowling though has raised some concerns, as the team has struggled to take wickets consistently in home conditions and allowed Ireland to post 254/7 in pursuit of 371.
While India are missing Renuka Singh, the injury to Pooja Vastrakar has compounded their misery.
Deepti Sharma, who played in her 100th ODI in the last match, has been the standout bowler with four wickets at 19.50, while the likes of Priya Mishra, Sayali Satghare, Titas Sadhu have not been able to impress.
The Irish batting has largely revolved around the trio of skipper Gaby Lewis, Christina Coulter-Reilly, and Leah Paul, each of whom has posted a half-century.
However, the Irish fielding has been a cause for concern with the team conceding unnecessary runs.
Teams (from):
India: Smriti Mandhana (C), Deepti Sharma (VC), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Uma Chetry (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk), Tejal Hasabnis, Raghvi Bist, Minnu Mani, Priya Mishra, Tanuja Kanwer, Titas Sadhu, Saima Thakor, Sayali Satghare.
Ireland: Gaby Lewis (C), Ava Canning, Christina Coulter Reilly, Alana Dalzell, Laura Delany, Georgina Dempsey, Sarah Forbes, Arlene Kelly, Joanna Loughran, Aimee Maguire, Leah Paul, Orla Prendergast, Una Raymond-Hoey, Freya Sargent, Rebecca Stokell.
Match starts: 11 am. (PTI)
