Women's T20 WC: Rodrigues guides India to victory against Pakistan
India beat arch-rivals Pakistan in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023 Group B match at Newlands, Cape Town. The Women in Blue successfully chased down 150, with Jemimah Rodrigues scoring a match-winning fifty. Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh shifted gears in the death overs. The former was adjudged the Player of the Match for her scintillating knock. Here are the key stats.
A crucial knock by Rodrigues
Top-order batter Rodrigues played one of the most important knocks of her career. She kept India's hopes alive after they were reduced to 93/3. The star batter kept rotating the strike, allowing others to attack. Rodrigues slammed her 10th half-century in WT20Is. She finished off in style, having smashed 53* off 38 balls (8 fours). Rodrigues scored the winning runs in the penultimate over.
Rodrigues races to 1,600 WT20I runs
During the innings, Rodrigues raced to 1,600 runs in WT20I cricket. The 22-year-old, India's fourth-highest run-scorer in the format, made her WT20I debut in 2018 (against South Africa Women in Potchefstroom). In a career spanning over four years, Rodrigues has slammed 1,628 runs from 76 matches at an average of 30.71. The tally includes a strike rate of 113.44.
1,000 WT20I runs
In October 2021, Rodrigues became the fourth Indian batter to get past 1,000 runs in WT20Is after Harmanpreet Kaur (2,956), Smriti Mandhana (2,651), and Mithali Raj (2,364). Later, teen sensation Shafali Verma also joined Rodrigues on this list.
A look at the match summary
Pakistan racked up 149/4 after electing to bat. Skipper Bismah Maroof set the tone of their innings with a sturdy half-century. Ayesha Naseem also smashed a quickfire 43*. Spinner Radha Yadav took two wickets for India. Although Yastika Bhatia and Shafali gave India a solid start, they were in hot water. Rodrigues and Ghosh guided India to glory even though Harmanpreet departed.
