India continued their winning streak in the Women’s One Day Internationals by beating Ireland by six wickets in the first match of the three-match series in Rajkot.
India were missing captain Harmanpreet Kaur and bowler Renuka Singh Thakur, but there was no indication that they would struggle without them. Medium pacer Titas Sadhu removed opener Sarah Forbes and Priya Mishra removed Orla Prendergast and Laura Delany in consecutive balls to reduce Ireland to 56/4 in the first 15 overs.
However, Ireland fought back thanks to captains Gaby Lewis and Leah Paul who scored 115 off 170 deliveries for the sixth wicket. Both teams were helped in part by the Indians’ sloppy fielding display. Stand-in captains Smriti Mandhana and Harleen Deol were among those who missed opportunities and there were several mistakes made in the ground game as well.
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However, with Paul missing out on 59, India managed to stem the flow of runs and restricted Ireland to 238/7 in their 50 overs. Lewis was the top scorer for the visitors, scoring 92 off 129 balls before Deepti Sharma caught her and bowled her. Sharma and Saima Thakor were particularly impressive, with Sayali Satghare scoring on debut in her last match as well.
Once the chase started, India never wanted to lose. Mandhana made an explosive start, scoring 41 off 29 deliveries (as he crossed 4000 WODI runs). After Mandhana’s fall, attention shifted to Pratica Rawal, who posted a career-best score of 89 off 96 deliveries. Rawal was named player of the match for her efforts.
India wobbled slightly when Harleen Deol and Jemimah Rodrigues fell in quick succession, but Tejal Hasabnis scored an unbeaten 53 off 46 deliveries to take his team home. Rawal fell and with seven runs still to play, Richa Ghosh came on and hit two wickets to end the match.
India will now look to seal the series in the second ODI in Rajkot on January 12.
