India cruise to six-wicket win against Ireland in first ODI

On Friday, January 10, the Indian women’s cricket team defeated Ireland by six wickets in the opening ODI match played at Rajkot. At Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, India managed to chase down a 239-run goal with 6 wickets and 93 balls left because to outstanding fifties from young opener Pratika Rawal and rising batsman Tejal Hasnbis.

Without senior bowler Renkua Singh and captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who had been rested, the Women in Blue resumed play. Uncapped Raghvi Bist was benched while Sayali Satghare, a youthful batting all-rounder, was given her first ODI cap for India. Titas Sadhu removed Sarah Forbed early in the fifth over, giving the Indian bowlers a strong start after being made to bowl first. The visiting team was then reduced to 56 for 4 as spinner Priya Mishra claimed two wickets in the 13th over.

When Ireland chose to bat, they were in severe difficulty at 56 for four in the 14th over, but Lewis and Leah Paul (59 off 73 balls) contributed 117 runs for the fifth wicket to help their side escape.

Lewis got her runs in 129 balls, including 15 boundaries. With at least three obvious lost catches and a couple misfields, Lewis and Paul went about their task in a measured manner, bringing some steadiness to the Ireland innings while putting together the team’s first-ever century partnership against India.

Titas Sadhu, a medium pacer, made the first breakthrough for India by inducing an outside edge from Sarah Forbes (9) as the batter attempted to play away from her body, and Deepti Sharma finished the job in the slip cordon. Ireland, on their first tour to the nation, were reduced to 34 for two when a dreadful mix-up resulted in the run-out of Una Raymond-Hoey (5), who tried an odd single despite hitting the ball straight to Jemimah Rodrigues at cover.

Orla Prendergast (9) was the next to go, stumped by Ghosh off the bowling of leg-spinner Priya Mishra (2/56), leaving the visitors on 56 for three in the 14th over.

However, with all-rounder Leah Paul and skipper Gaby Lewis contributing 117 runs for the fifth wicket, Ireland pulled off a spectacular recovery. Ireland managed to post a tenacious total of 238 for 7, with Paul scoring her seventh ODI fifty and Lewis leading the way with 92 runs. With two wickets for 56, Mishra proved to be India’s finest bowler, while the speed trio of Saima Thakor, Staghare, and Titas Sadhu found it difficult to contribute.

In-form Mandhana and Rawal provided the hosts a fast start by scoring 70 runs for the first wicket in just 10 overs, despite the fact that they were chasing a difficult target. Rawal played a game-winning innings, while Mandhan collapsed after achieving her 4000 ODI runs with 41 runs.

Hasbanis and Rawal both scored 116 runs for the fourth wicket, with Rawal leading the way with 89 runs off 96 balls. India grabbed a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series after chasing down the goal in only 34.3 overs thanks to Hasanbis’ unbeaten 53 off just 46 balls.

Pratika Rawal, Player of the Match: “I’m comfortable! It helps a lot. I enjoy watching from the other end. It eases me down. We were just trying to keep it simple. We had a really good start. We just had to carry on the momentum. At the end, Tejal played really well. I’m just trying to do what I do best… just keeping it one match at a time. Whenever the ball is in my slot, I look to play big shots; otherwise, I look to take singles.”

India captain Smriti Mandhana: “To bowl on these sort of wickets, which have nothing in it, the bowlers did a really good job. Fielding is something we can get better at. Having good conversations in the last two or three days helped… the way they executed the slower balls and bouncers. Every game here on, we need to execute. Some things we need to do behind the scene. Routine wise, every player has to follow it for the next seven-eight months.”

Ireland captain Gaby Lewis: “I’m feeling good. I took fluids. Definitely some positives to take. Much better than we did in Bangladesh. I’m delighted. Credit to Leah as well. Coming from Bangladesh, the wickets were very different. It’s about adapting as well.”