Rawal, Hasabnis guide India to six-wicket win
Pratika Rawal and Tejal Hasabnis shine in India's ODI win over Ireland, scoring 89 and 53, as team prepares for Women's World Cup.
Chandigarh: Till three months ago, names like Pratika Rawal, Tejal Hasabnis and Priya Mishra were talked about in Indian women’s domestic cricket circles only. With Shafali Verma being dropped, captain Harmanpreet Kaur missing out due to injury and the hunt still on for a quality spinner, the trio has suddenly taken the centrestage to prove their mettle, that too ahead of the ODI Women’s World Cup to be held in India in six months’ time.
Opener Rawal hammered a 96-ball 89, completing her second half-century in her fourth international innings while Hasabnis hit a fiery 46-ball unbeaten 53 to help India chase down Ireland’s total of 238 in Rajkot to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.
Hitting her first maiden half-century in her fourth ODI, Hasabnis helped Rawal add 116 for the fourth wicket after the Smriti Mandhana led-side lost Harleen Deol and Jemimah Rodrigues in quick succession. Taking the lead, Mandhana played her natural game, hitting the Irish bowlers all over the park. Mandhana played shots on the leg-side as well, showing off the work she has done lately in that area. Using 29 balls, the left-handed opener Mandhana scored quick 41 runs to combine well with Rawal, notching 70 runs in 10 overs for India.
Once Mandhana got out to Freya Sargent’s bowling, Rawal cut loose and showed her batting prowess by going aggressive. Once Deol (20) and Rodgrigues (9) were gone---courtesy Aimee Maguire---it was left to Rawal and Hasabnis to take charge of the chase.
Hasabnis could not get a chance in the three ODIs against West Indies late last month, and only got to play in Rajkot because Kaur was missing out. She got to a half-century off just 43 balls. Meanwhile, Rawal played big shots in pursuit of completing a ton but the required runs were less than the runs she needed for a century. With Rawal needing 25 and India just 21, she came hard at the leg-spinner Aimee Maguire, hitting her for two fours and a six. In the end, gave away her wicket in the 34th over off Maguire’s bowling.
Richa Ghosh came in to hit her first two balls for boundaries to seal India’s win in the 35th over.
Earlier, India dropped four catches as Ireland captain Gaby Lewis scored 92 in a total of 238 for 7 after electing to bat. Cramps hindered her chances of scoring a ton. The knock also made Lewis Ireland’s leading one-day run-maker as she moved to 1414 - two ahead of Miriam Grealey’s tally that had stood since 2005.
Ireland slipped to 56-4 by the 14th over with leg-spinner Mishra’s two wickets including dismissing Laura Delany for a first-ball duck. However, Lewis and Leah Paul (59) produced a 117-run partnership to steady the Ireland innings.
The fifth-wicket stand was ended by Harleen Deol running out Paul before Lewis’s 129-ball innings, which included 15 fours, was cut short when she was bowled by Deepti Sharma. Speaking after the win, captain Mandhana said, “To bowl on these sort of wickets which have nothing in it, the bowlers did a really good job. Fielding is something we can get better at. Having good conversations in the last two or three days helped. The way they executed the slower balls and bouncers. Every game here on, we need to execute. Some things we need to do behind the scene. Routine wise, every player has to follow it for the next seven-eight months.”
The sides will meet again in Rajkot on Sunday and Wednesday.
Brief scores: Ireland W: 238/7 in 50 overs (Gaby Lewis 92, Leah Paul 59, Priya Mishra 2/56) lost to India W: 241/4 in 34.3 overs (Pratika Rawal 89, Tejal Hasabnis 53 not out, Smriti Mandhana 41, Aimee Maguire 3/57) by six wickets.