India vs Ireland women’s ODI: Newcomers’ day out as Pratika Rawal, Tejal Hasabnis shine in comfortable win | Cricket News
With the ball, rookie legspinner Priya Mishra got the prized wicket in Ireland’s side, Orla Prendergast and followed that up with another one of Laura Delany next ball to peg the visitors back. With the bat, it was a 116-run partnership between Pratika Rawal and Tejal Hasabnis that carried India’s run-chase. Between the three of them, just 60 days separated their ODI caps, received late last year and the newcomers had a day to remember as India beat Ireland 6 wickets in the first ODI on Friday in Rajkot.
On a flat batting deck, India did well to break into the middle order but Ireland captain Ga Lewis played a classy knock of 92 and stitched together a 117-run stand with Leah Paul. But India, not at their best on the field once more worryingly, did well enough to restrict the opposition to 238/7.
Rawal then anchored the chase smashing 10 fours and one six for a career-best 89 (96 balls). She was ably supported Hasabnis, who remained unbeaten on 53 off 46 balls with the help of nine boundaries.Their partnership of 116 came off just 84 balls with India winning the match with 93 balls to spare.
Carrying forward her dominant form from the West Indies series, stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana gave the team a fantastic start with a blering 29-ball 41, studded with six fours and a six. In the process, she became the second Indian and 15th overall to surpass 4,000 ODI runs. Mandhana and Rawal shared their third fifty-plus opening stand in four matches, keeping the scoreboard ticking with ease.
Harleen Deol (20) and Jemimah Rodrigues (9) failed to convert their starts as India gave Ireland a sniff when they lost three wickets for 46 runs. Sloppy bowling Ireland after that, however, aided the two youngsters to close the chase out.
Earlier, fielding was once again under the scanner as India let Ireland off the hook. Opting to bat, Ireland were in deep trouble at 56 for four in the 14th over, but aided at least three clear dropped catches and a few misfields, the duo of Lewis and Paul gave Ireland something to fight with.
“We need to get better at fielding. We should have restricted them to 180, will be aiming to do that going forward. We have to go out there and execute our plans, that’s going to be important,” Mandhana said during the post-match presentation. But she reserved praise for her bowlers. “To bowl on these sort of wickets, which have nothing in it, the bowlers did a really good job… The way they executed the slower balls and bouncers. Every game here on, we need to execute,” she added.
“I enjoy watching [Mandhana bat] from the other end. It eases me down. We were just trying to keep it simple,” Rawal said after being named player of the match. “Whenever the ball is in my slot, I look to play big shots; otherwise, I look to take singles.” It’s been an impressive start to life as an India cricketer for the psychology student from Delhi who has now made two half centuries in her first four matches.
Brief scores: Ireland 238/7 in 50 overs (Ga Lewis 92, Leah Paul 59, Priya Mishra 2/56) lost to India 241/4 in 34.3 overs (Pratika Rawal 89, Tejal Hasabnis 53, Aimee Maguire 3/57) 6 wickets
(With PTI inputs)
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