The Indian women’s team are coming off an impressive white-ball series win at home against the West Indies, led by skipper Hayley Matthews, clinching the T20I (2-1) and ODI (3-0) series in December 2024.
In their next assignment, the Women in Blue led by the stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana, in the absence of the regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, will host Ireland led by skipper Gaby Lewis for the first time in a bilateral ODI series in India.
All the matches of the series will be played at the Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot. The 24-year-old all-rounder from Mumbai, Sayali Satghare was handed her ODI debut cap in the 1st ODI of the series.
Twin fifties from Gaby Lewis and Leah Paul guide Ireland to a respectable total
The visiting skipper Gaby Lewis, playing her 50th ODI for Ireland, won the toss and opted to bat first in the three-match ODI series opener in Rajkot. The Irish openers Sarah Forbes and skipper Gaby Lewis came out with positive intent as they got off the blocks quickly with a 27-run opening partnership. The pair scored at a rate of around 6 runs an over.
Titas Sadhu picked up the wicket of Sarah Forbes in the 5th over of the innings to provide the first breakthrough for India. The visitors suffered a mini collapse as they lost their next three wickets for just 29 runs. Leah Paul, partnered alongside skipper Gaby Lewis, at the crease when the team was in trouble at 56/4 in the 14th over of the innings. The duo switched the rescue mode on and stitched a much-needed 117-run partnership for the 5th wicket to take their side to a strong position in the game. It was also the first 100+ runs partnership for Ireland against India in the ODI format.
The partnership came to an unfortunate end as Leah Paul (59 off 73 balls) was found short of her crease to provide the 5th breakthrough against the run of play for the home side. She departed after scoring a gritty half-century. A visibly exhausted skipper Gaby Lewis (92 off 129 balls) chipped one straight to Deepti Sharma after another crucial 6th wicket partnership worth 21 alongside wicket-keeper batter Christina Coulter Reilly taking their side closer to the 200-run mark. She fell just 8 runs short of her well-deserved maiden century in the ODI format.
Ireland eventually posted a competitive total of 238/7 in their quota of overs. Arlene Kelly (28 off 25 balls) chipped in with a handy cameo with the bat for her side towards the end of the innings to propel the score closer to the 250-run mark. The pair of Leah Paul and skipper Gaby Lewis accounted for a significant amount (63%) of the team’s total.
Priya Mishra (9-1-56-2), debutant Sayali Satghare (10-2-43-1), Deepti Sharma (10-1-41-1), and Saima Thakor were the star performers with the ball for India.
Fifties from Pratika Rawal and Tejal Hasabnis power India to the series lead
Chasing a target of 239, the Indian openers Pratika Rawal and skipper Smriti Mandhana got their side off to a brisk start with a 70-run opening partnership. The pair scored at a rate of 7 runs an over. Freya Sargent picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Smriti Mandhana (41 off 29 balls) to provide the first breakthrough for Ireland. She completed 4,000 ODI runs, for India, the 2nd one to do so after former skipper Mithali Raj, before getting dismissed.
Harleen Deol threw away a good start (20 off 32 balls) after a crucial 31-run partnership for the 2nd wicket alongside Pratika Rawal. Jemimah Rodrigues soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 3rd breakthrough for Ireland. Tejal Hasabnis partnered alongside the opening batter Pratika Rawal and the duo took their side to the brink of victory with a massive 116-run partnership for the 4th wicket.
Pratika Rawal (89 off 96 balls) departed 11 runs short of her well-deserved maiden century, getting caught in the deep in her bid to finish things off quickly, giving Aimee Maguire her 3rd wicket of the day. Wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh finished things off in style with back-to-back boundaries to guide India over the line with 6 wickets in hand and 93 balls to spare, alongside Tejal Hasabnis (53* off 46 balls) staying unbeaten on her maiden half-century.
Aimee Maguire (8-1-57-3), Freya Sargent (8-0-38-1), and Arlene Kelly (6-0-29-0) were impressive with the ball for Ireland.
Pratika Rawal was awarded the Player of the Match for her sensational innings (89 off 96 balls) with the bat for her side, helping India take a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.
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