Rajkot. Indian women's cricket team has defeated Ireland by six wickets in the first match of the three-match ODI series. With this victory, the Indian team has taken a 1-0 lead in the series. In this match, young opener Pratika Rawal (89 runs) was chosen as the 'Player of the Match' while Tejal Hassabanis made a memorable comeback and scored runs (53 runs not out). Tejal last played an ODI against New Zealand in October 2024. Pratika and Tejal made a partnership of 116 runs in 84 balls which proved important in the victory.
Captain Smriti Mandhana (41 runs, 29 balls, six fours, one six) and Pratika made a good start for the Indian team chasing the target. Pratika's inning of 96 balls studded with 10 fours and one six and finally Tejal's unbeaten inning of 46 balls (nine fours) helped India win comfortably by scoring 241 runs for four wickets in 34.3 overs. Mandhana continued her excellent form in the West Indies series and scored runs rapidly.
During this, she became the second Indian and 15th overall player to complete 4,000 runs in ODIs. Mandhana hit shots on both sides of the wicket against the Irish bowlers and was well supported by Pratika, who made her debut in the West Indies series. Both of them made the third half-century partnership while opening the innings in four matches. However, Ireland gave the first blow to India by dismissing Mandhana at the end of the powerplay. Mandhana could not time the slog sweep at mid-on and missed her half-century by nine runs. Harleen Deol (20) and Jemimah Rodrigues (09) looked in good form initially but fell victim to Ireland's left-arm spinner Amy Maguire. In this way India lost three wickets in 46 runs. But due to Mandhana's aggressive innings the team remained in a good position. Ireland's 18-year-old Maguire took three wickets for 57 runs in eight overs but Ireland's lack of experience proved to be a disadvantage as the team lost 21 runs in extras. The weak link in their bowling unit was Laura Delaney who bowled two consecutive no balls in the 24th over and Tejal hit consecutive fours on these two occasions.
Earlier, taking advantage of the poor fielding of the Indian team, Ireland scored a respectable score of 238 runs for seven wickets with the brilliant innings of 92 runs by captain Gabby Lewis and her 117-run partnership with Leah Paul (59 runs). After winning the toss and electing to bat, the Irish team was in trouble, losing four wickets for 56 runs in the 14th over, but with the help of a century partnership for the fifth wicket between Lewis (129 balls, 15 fours) and Leah, the team managed to score a good score. Taking advantage of three dropped catches and some careless fielding, the pair of Lewis and Leah formed the team's first century partnership against India. India's medium pacer Titas Sadhu achieved the first success when she had Sarah Forbes (09) caught by Deepti Sharma in the slip cordon.
The Irish team, which was touring India for the first time, had lost two wickets for 34 runs after the run out of Una Raymond Hoey (05). Orla Prendergast (09) was the next player to be out, who was stumped by wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh on the ball of leg spinner Priya Mishra and the score became 56 runs for three wickets in the 14th over. After this, Priya dismissed Laura Delaney with a beautiful googly on the very next ball and her fourth wicket fell on this score. The visiting team needed a good partnership and its expectation was fulfilled as soon as Leah came to the crease. Both played a century partnership. But Lewis's innings was ended by Deepti. This bowler caught him on his own ball. Before being out, Lewis was suffering from a muscle strain in his arm. Arlene Kelly then played a useful inning of 28 runs in 25 balls. Earlier, India made the ODI debut of all-rounder Sayali Satghare. The hosts have rested regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur and fast bowler Renuka Thakur in the three-match series with senior opener Smriti Mandhana leading the team.
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