Jemimah Rodrigues produced a match-winning knock as India defeated Australia by five wickets in the ICC Women’s World Cup semi-final at the DY Patil Stadium on Thursday. This was Australia’s first loss in the series, and it came at the hands of India.
After winning the Player of the Match award, Rodrigues revealed that she found out about her batting position only five minutes before going in to bat. “Five minutes before going in, I was told I was batting at three,” Jemimah said at the post-match presentation. “It wasn’t about me; I wanted to win this match for India and take the team through, having lost crunch matches before. Today was not about my fifty or my hundred – it was about making India win.”
The Mumbai-based batter also highlighted how being left out of the squad last year affected her mental health. “Everything that has happened so far was a setup for this. Last year, I was dropped from the World Cup despite being in good form. Things kept happening back-to-back, and I couldn’t control anything. I have cried almost every day on this tour. I wasn’t doing well mentally and was going through anxiety. I knew I had to show up, and God took care of everything,” Rodrigues said.
Jemimah’s partnership with captain Harmanpreet Kaur proved to be the match-defining one. The duo added 167 runs for the third wicket, helping India recover from the early dismissals of Shafali Verma (10) and Smriti Mandhana (24).
“When Harry di came in, it was all about building one good partnership. Towards the end, I was trying to push myself but wasn’t able to. Deepti spoke to me before every ball and kept encouraging me. When I can’t carry on, my teammates encourage me. I can’t take credit for anything – I didn’t do it alone,” added Jemimah.
Rodrigues finished with 127 runs off 134 balls. Her innings, which included 14 boundaries, helped India chase down the target of 339 runs.
Earlier, Australia had posted a strong total of 338, thanks to Phoebe Litchfield’s 119 and Ellyse Perry’s 77. But India’s bowlers kept fighting, with Shree Charani and Deepti Sharma taking two wickets each, preventing Australia from crossing the 350-run mark.
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