India in their final league stage contest had Jemimah Rodrigues step up alongside key contributors in Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma to help India get to a strong total of 162 that at a stage looked far from India’s reach. A clinical bowling performance saw India restricted Barbados for 62 and with a 100-run made their way through to the knockouts.
With Smriti Mandhana departing early on 5, the pressure was on India to not see a collapse and the pair of Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma with a counterattack got big over out during the powerplay. With the field open, Jemimah just couldn’t get her boundaries and had completely lost her timing, but did well to put on her skates and collected 1s and 2s when available with Shafali continuing to punish the Barbados attack.
A run-out had Shafali Verma walk back, Harmanpreet Kaur too was on the verge of being run out and she then put her arm around Jemimah to calm her nerves who’d been doing all the calling. Harmanpreet Kaur walked back for a duck, but maybe the arm around Jemimah helped her settle in as she struck a clean hit and had her timing back as she followed the maximum with a couple of boundaries and finished on a good 56(46).
Jemimah Rodrigues knows her strengths well and finds no reason to change her natural game.
Here’s what she had to say 👇#CricketTwitter #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/FUOh6tzLup
— Female Cricket #B2022 (@imfemalecricket) August 4, 2022
The knock as understandable was a different one and Jemimah after the match said, “Smriti had told me long back in the IPL (Women’s T20 Challenge) in 2019 that you don’t have to be a Harmanpreet Kaur or a Smriti Mandhana. You have to be a Jemimah Rodrigues. I think I have understood that role and it’s helping me.” Jemimah further added, “The team has given me a role. If I can play that role, it doesn’t matter how other people look at it. If the dynamics suit our team, we have Shafali, Smriti and Harman, so I just want to play the best role I want to play for the team.”
India were under pressure but Jemimah Rodrigues held the innings from one end, scoring her 7th T20I Fifty and giving India a respectable total.
Well Played @JemiRodrigues #CricketTwitter #INDvBAR pic.twitter.com/9Ui031ZwQ7
— Female Cricket #B2022 (@imfemalecricket) August 3, 2022
Jemimah Rodrigues doesn’t have a game of attacking shots, but there’s no doubt that she has what is required to play and play long in the format. Jemimah quoted, “Definitely, I’ve worked on my power game, but more than that, I’ve understood my game better. I’m not a power-hitter, I’m a placer. I can hit the (gaps for) singles and doubles well; I know how to maneuver the field. I think that is my strength. She further added, “My game is not very flashy but even without that, I end up with a good strike rate. That is what I have realized I don’t have to be someone else; I have to be Jemimah Rodrigues to score. This is what has helped me.
Jemimah credited ‘the Hundred‘ tournament where she’d played last summer quoting, “The best thing about the ‘Hundred’ was the opportunity to get to play in English conditions, which I wouldn’t have gotten normally. Any match, even if it’s a domestic game, I think when you go out there and score runs, you get confidence. And that is what happened to me. I was blessed that I got to play for the Northern Superchargers.”