Jemimah Rodrigues finds her way back into the Northern Superchargers for the third edition of the Women’s Hundred.
The Inaugural edition of the Women’s version of the Hundred (100 balls per side) competition was originally scheduled in the year 2020 but had to be postponed to 2021 due to the outbreak of the coronavirus all around the globe. The tournament includes eight teams from various parts of England, namely Birmingham Phoenix, London Spirit, Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, Oval Invincibles, Southern Brave, Trent Rockets, and the Welsh Fire.
A few Indian stars the likes of Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Smriti Mandhana were also a part of the inaugural edition of the Hundred. However, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana withdrew their names later from the tournament.
We are now into the third edition of the Women’s Hundred which commenced on 1st August 2023. The Oval Invincibles have continued their dominance in the women’s competition as they have managed to win two back-to-back titles in the first couple of years, since the inception of the league. In this article, we will have a look at the views of Jemimah Rodrigues on the future of the Hundred competition.
The 22-year-old star Indian batter Jemimah Rodrigues has been a vital cog of the Northern Superchargers side ever since the inaugural edition of the league. She has scored 302 runs in 9 innings so far for the Northern Superchargers. Her best performance with the bat came against the Welsh Fire when she scored 92 runs off 43 balls with an astonishing strike rate of 213.95, staying unbeaten in the run chase, and single-handedly managed to take her side to victory.
She was not picked in the draft which took place in March, earlier this year. However, she finds her way back into the Northern Superchargers side ahead of the third edition as she comes in as a replacement for Heather Graham who was ruled out of the tournament due to an injury. A few of the players are set to earn 10% of their salary from the WPL in the Hundred.
Jemimah will earn only 10% of her WPL salary in The Hundred, but that's not important to her. #CricketTwitter #TheHundred pic.twitter.com/IJarw2C43D
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 3, 2023
“For us as players, it’s not about the money, all of us love playing in the Hundred. It’s a different format, it’s exciting, and the way the ECB organizes it, getting the crowds and kids involved is something different. We love coming to England for it,” Jemimah Rodrigues about enjoying the uniqueness of the format in the Hundred.
The Northern Superchargers had a below-par season last year as they finished at number five in the points table winning three matches and losing three matches in the league stages. They started their season with a crushing defeat against the defending champions Oval Invincibles. They seemed to have developed a pattern of bouncing back and winning the game after suffering a defeat in their previous encounter.
“It’s good to be back, especially with a team I’ve spent a lot of time with. Whenever I come here, I feel like I’ve come back home. I have a lot of friends here, It’s like family to me. I love being in Leeds and the thing I love about the Superchargers is they always have a good time, they like to have fun,” Jemimah Rodrigues on being back with the team for the Hundred.
“I was there for the first season, and I think it has come a long way. More than anything, I love seeing little children coming in those oversized jerseys, like they’re floating in it and asking for autographs. You speak to their parents and they’re like, my daughter wants to play. And it’s not just girls, It’s young guys getting inspired to play cricket by watching a women’s game. That’s the most exciting part of us, about playing in the Hundred,” Jemimah Rodrigues on inspiring the younger generation to take up the sport.
(Quotes sourced from EspnCricinfo)
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