NAVI MUMBAI: On the fourth ball of the 35th over during India's chase in the Women's World Cup semifinal against Australia, Jemimah Rodrigues was in the middle holding her breath. So was her batting partner Harmanpreet Kaur and the 35,000 fans, who had filled the DY Patil Stadium for what had turned out to be an enthralling contest.
Rodrigues had just been hit on the back leg by Alana King and Australia had decided to take a review. First, it was checked whether she got any bat on it, when that was not the case, the silence only grew. Until the hawkeye projections came on the big screen. Pitched, in line. Impact, in line. Wicket, Missing. The moment the crowd saw the green, they rose together and let out a huge roar that resonated around the venue.
Rodrigues, batting on 85, had built a partnership with Harmanpreet. She came in at No 3, watched Smriti Mandhana fall to a soft dismissal down the leg and ensured India kept up with the run rate and did not lose any more wickets. Singles were pushed to doubles. She took it upon herself to be the aggressor when Harmanpreet took time to settle in.
She whipped Kim Garth through midwicket, before lapping her to the ropes; welcomed Ash Gardner with a cover drive against the spin and cut Sophie Molineux behind square for a boundary. Annabel Sutherland treated her with a full toss that was dispatched to midwicket boundary before cutting the pacer again. For all the dot balls in between, she and Harmanpreet picked up a boundary at least every over. Soon, Harmanpreet also joined the party. She swept, pulled, lapped, scooped before taking down the Australian spinners over midwicket.
After all, no one knows better than these two what it is like to watch the team collapse after they fall. They were there in Cape Town during the 2023 T20 World Cup semifinal and India were cruising towards the target. But Rodrigues fell first, Harmanpreet got run out and India hit the self -destruct button, losing by nine runs. They did not want another collapse. They decided to take the game deep for they knew what Australia felt when they were together in the middle. That is exactly what happened from the time Mandhana fell. Soon after the duo brought up their fifties, Australia felt the pressure. Alyssa Healy dropped Rodrigues first, Tahlia McGrath was also among culprits. The misfields came in handy as Rodrigues and Harmanpreet added 167 runs from 156 balls for the third wicket before the latter eventually got out for 89 runs from 88 balls. Rodrigues was not ready to give in just yet.
She had been on the field for fifty overs watching Australia pile on 338 runs, thanks to a sensational century from Phoebe Litchfield (119) and the counter-attacking fifty from Gardner. She also knew that if she stuck around, Richa Ghosh would have the confidence to take on Australia in the death overs even if the run-rate climbs up.
India also knew they had to make a world record chase in the history of women's ODI cricket to enter their third World Cup final. After all, that is what it takes to beat Australia in this format. Australia were the proverbial juggernauts, who had lost only six games in eight years, and were on a World Cup-winning streak where their last ODI WC loss had come against India in Derby eight years ago. Back then, it had taken a miraculous 171 not out from Harmanpreet to take India home. This time, Australia were even stronger. It needed a team effort to beat them. And that is what India tried to do. Harmanpreet got out, Rodrigues continued. She got to her third ODI century — did not remove the helmet to celebrate as she knew what mattered more. Soon Richa sent Gardner for a six and a four.
Australia, however, did what they do best. They went through the motions and waited for that one mistake. It came when Ghosh tried to slice Sutherland and was caught at short third man. It was their chance to kick in. They turned to Molineux, who was cut by Rodrigues for a boundary.
For someone who had been dropped from the 2022 World Cup squad, Rodrigues knew she could not let this chance go. She had realised that this had been her day so far and it was her moment to kick in and deliver for the team. For, she has been the best batter for India after Mandhana and Harmanpreet but was yet to win matches on her own, under pressure when the entire world was watching her. On Thursday, the Mumbaikar had to put her foot down in front of her family, and a crowd that became her own, rise to the occasion. And that is exactly what she did.
Jemimah Ivan Rodrigues stood up for India and took India into their third ODI World Cup final.
Brief scores: Australia 338 in 49.5 ovs (Litchfield 119, Perry 77, Gardner 63; Shree Charani 2/49) lost to India 341/5 in 48.3 ovs (Rodrigues 127 n.o, Harmanpreet 89; Garth 2/46).
