NAVI MUMBAI: At some point when Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal were piling on runs, having already put up 200 runs for the first wicket, all the eyes were on the Indian dug out. Who are the batters padded up? Which one of them is going to walk in at No 3? Is it going to be Harleen Deol as seen so far through the World Cup, or will it change for what is a crucial match against New Zealand at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.
After all, it is what they did in Visakhapatnam against Australia. India were 155/1 in that game and they sent in Deol rather than promoting someone else. When asked about the stagnation that happens with Rawal and Deol in the middle, head coach Amol Muzumdar said that they do not like to tinker too much with the top five while being flexible with the middle and lower middle-order. It cost them against Australia and they collapsed in the death and couldn’t post an above par total.
In the next game against England, they kept the top four as it is and dropped Jemimah Rodrigues for another bowler. In Navi Mumbai, however, things looked different for a change. Refreshingly so. Deol was not padded up. Not even Harmanpreet Kaur. Rodrigues was. And from the moment she walked in at No 3, the Mumbaikar showed why perhaps she should be playing that role more regularly; or at least whenever India get off to a good start.
Rodrigues hit the ground running from word go. It helped that the pitch was a belter for batters and Rawal too was well set and accelerating. But Rodrigues set the tone. She went looking for boundaries and got them; pushed Rawal to run more doubles. She got to her fifty in 39 balls before finishing with an unbeaten 76 off 55, taking India to 340/3 in 49 overs after the rain break.
Her knock felt like a timely reminder to herself and the team on what she is capable of doing and how often. It became the difference between India posting 290ish total and 340.
In fact, for the first time in this World Cup, as a team India looked proactive collectively despite dropping a batting all-rounder in Amanjot Kaur for a specialist batter in Rodrigues. To an extent, they did not have much choice in the matter. They knew a loss against New Zealand would make them dependent on the result of the England versus White Ferns contest. They knew they cannot afford to put a foot wrong. While Muzumdar did not acknowledge much of the pressure the team was under, New Zealand captain Sophie Devine put it in perspective considering what they felt during a home WC three years ago.
India needed a perfect game, something they had been searching for since the beginning of the tournament, and they managed to do that on Thursday, at least with the bat. It was an innings where not much went wrong — the cautious starts were made up for, they scored 56 runs in the last six overs and did not lose wickets in clusters.
With the ball, Kranti Gaud gave the start they needed. The pacer rushed a charging Suzie Bates, inducing a top-edge. When it looked like Georgia Plimmer and Amelia Kerr were building a partnership, Renuka Singh showed up. She cleaned up Plimmer first and followed it up with the big wicket of Devine — the one imposing batter who could take the game away from India. It was only a matter of time before they failed and India sealed the qualification for the semifinals.
That is exactly what transpired as the Women in Blue eliminated the White Ferns from the race. Under the pump after three losses, India needed to bring their best to stay alive and they did just that on Thursday.
Brief scores: IND-W 340/3 in 49 ovs (P Rawal 122, S Mandhana 109, J Rodrigues 76) bt NZ-W (Brooke Halliday 81, Izzy Gaze 61 n.o; Renuka S 2/25).
