IND vs IRE, 1st W-ODI: Fifties from Rawal, Hasabnis steer India to comfortable six-wicket victory

IND vs IRE, 1st W-ODI: Fifties from Rawal, Hasabnis steer India to comfortable six-wicket victory

India continued its winning run in Women’s One Day Internationals with a comfortable six-wicket win over Ireland in the first match of its three match series in Rajkot.

India was without captain Harmanpreet Kaur and bowler Renuka Singh Thakur but showed no signs of struggling without them. Medium pacer Titas Sadhu removed opener Sarah Forbes, and Priya Mishra removed Orla Prendergast and Laura Delany in successive balls to reduce Ireland to 56/4 inside the first 15 overs.

However, Ireland fought back through captain Gaby Lewis and Leah Paul, who put on 115 from 170 deliveries for the sixth wicket. The two were assisted in part by a sloppy Indian fielding display. Stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana and Harleen Deol were among those who put down chances, and there were several errors in ground fielding as well.

However, once Paul was run-out for 59, India succeeded in stemming the flow of runs and restricted Ireland to 238/7 in its 50 overs. Lewis top-scored for the visitors with 92 from 129 balls before Deepti Sharma had her caught and bowled. Sharma and Saima Thakor particularly impressed, and there was a wicket on debut for Sayali Satghare in her final over as well.

India never seemed like losing once the chase began. Mandhana provided an explosive start, scoring 41 from 29 deliveries (crossing 4000 WODI runs in the process). Once Mandhana fell, the focus fell on Pratika Rawal, who top-scored with a career-best 89 from 96 deliveries. Rawal was named player of the match for her effort.

India wobbled slightly when Harleen Deol and Jemimah Rodrigues fell in quick succession, but Tejal Hasabnis scored an unbeaten 53 from 46 deliveries to take her side home. Rawal fell with seven runs still required, allowing Richa Ghosh to come in and hit two boundaries to finish the game.

India will now look to seal the series in the second ODI in Rajkot on January 12.