India clinched the three-match ODI series against Ireland with a game to go, courtesy of a dominating 116-run victory in the 2nd ODI at the Niranjan Shah Stadium. Jemimah Rodrigues was the star of the show as she brought up her maiden ODI century (102 off 91 balls), while also completing 1,000 runs in the ODI format.
The home side made a couple of changes to their side for the 3rd ODI, with Minnu Mani replacing Saima Thakor and Tanuja Kanwer replacing Priya Mishra in the XI, while Ireland, led by skipper Gaby Lewis, retained the same team that took the field in the 2nd ODI.
Rawal, Mandhana, Ghosh power India to highest-ever team total of 435
The Indian openers Pratika Rawal and skipper Smriti Mandhana came out all guns blazing stitching a humongous 233-run opening partnership after the Indian skipper won the toss and opted to bat first. The pair scored at a rate of over 8 runs an over. This was India’s 3rd highest opening partnership and overall, the 7th highest opening stand in Women’s ODIs.
Skipper Mandhana notched up her 10th ODI century, equaling the record for the 3rd most centuries in the format alongside England’s Tammy Beaumont (10) in the Women’s ODIs. She brought up her century in just 70 balls, breaking the record for the fastest century by an Indian in Women’s ODIs, previously held by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (87 balls). Orla Prendergast ended Mandhana’s (135 off 80 balls) stay at the crease, in the 27th over of the innings.
Wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh earned a promotion in the batting order with an intent to continue with the momentum of the innings provided by both the openers. She did exactly that, alongside Pratika Rawal, by taking their side close to the 350-run mark with another massive 104-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. Arlene Kelly cleaned up the wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh (59 off 42 balls), departing after scoring a quick-fire half-century.
Tejal Hasabnis partnered with opening batter Pratika Rawal at the crease and the pair took India past their highest-ever total in the format with a 50-run 3rd wicket partnership. Freya Sargent picked up the big wicket of Pratika Rawal (154 off 129 balls) to provide the 3rd breakthrough for Ireland. Pratika Rawal, after missing out on the previous occasion, capitalised with both hands, by not only notching up her maiden century in the format, but also successfully converting it into a big hundred.
She also broke the record for the highest individual score for India in ODIs at home, surpassing Smriti Mandhana’s 136 against South Africa on 19th June 2024 in the 2nd ODI. India posted a massive total of 435/5 in their quota of overs, their highest-ever total in the format surpassing their previous best of 370/5 in the 2nd ODI of the ongoing series against Ireland. India also became only the 3rd team after New Zealand and Australia to breach the 400-run mark in the Women’s ODIs and it is also overall the 4th highest total in Women’s ODIs.
The Indian openers contributed a massive 66% of India’s record total. Georgina Dempsey (10-0-65-1), and Orla Prendergast (8-0-71-2) were the pick of the bowlers for Ireland, Freya Sargent (8-0-68-1), Ava Canning (8-0-64-0) and Arlene Kelly (7-0-66-1) played their part with the ball for their side bearing the brunt of a brutal run fest from the Indian batters.
Spinners bowl India to their biggest ODI win by runs margin (304)
The visitors lost a couple of wickets, including the wicket of their skipper Gaby Lewis in quick succession chasing a mountainous total of 436. Orla Prendergast joined Sarah Forbes at the crease and the duo led the recovery with a much-needed 64-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to take their side closer to the 100-run mark. Tanuja Kanwer cleaned up Orla Prendergast (36 off 43 balls) to claim her maiden ODI victim.
The visitors, Ireland were eventually wrapped up for 131 in the 32nd over of the innings. A horrible collapse saw them lose their last 7 wickets for just 43 runs, as a result, falling 304 runs short of the target. Sarah Forbes (41 off 44 balls) top scored with the bat for Ireland, while Leah Paul (15 off 25 balls), and Laura Delany (10 off 20 balls) were the only other batters to enter the double digits. Deepti Sharma (8.4-2-27-3), Tanuja Kanwer (9-2-31-2), and Minnu Mani (6-0-22-1) were the stand-out performers with the ball for India.
Pratika Rawal was awarded the Player of the Match for her sensational maiden century (154 off 129 balls). She was also awarded the Player of the Series for topping the run-scoring charts with 310 runs at a strike rate of 108.39 and a mind-boggling average of 103.33 in three innings, playing a crucial role with the bat in the series for India as the home side completed a dominating whitewash in the ODI series against Ireland.
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