Jemimah reveals turning point behind her knock for the ages

Navi Mumbai: Overwhelmed with emotions after her unbeaten century fired India into the final of the Women’s ODI World Cup, an exhausted but gratified Jemimah Rodrigues said Harmanpreet Kaur’s dismissal in the semifinal against Australia was a “blessing in disguise”.

Jemimah produced an innings of the highest quality under tremendous pressure, hitting 127 not out from 134 balls as India nailed a world-record chase of 339 in Women’s World Cup history to set up a summit clash with South Africa. She laid foundation of the win with a 167-run stand with Harmanpreet (89), whose dismissal in the 36th over put further pressure on Jemimah, given that India had lost matches from winning positions earlier in the tournament.

“I was telling Harry di (Harmanpreet) that we both have to finish it,” Jemimah told the media.

“When that (Harmanpreet’s dismissal) happened, it was like a blessing in disguise for me because I was kind of losing focus because of tiredness. But when Harman got out, I think that added more responsibility to me that ‘okay, I need to be here, okay, she’s out, I’ll score for her’.

Aussies awestruck

Even in defeat, Ellyse Perry could only nod in admiration.

The Australian all-rounder hailed India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues for batting India into the World Cup final, saying their composure under pressure earned applause even from their dressing room.

Perry said the Australian dressing room would acknowledge the efforts of Harmanpreet and Jemimah. “It’s really easy to stand here in retrospect and throw ideas into the wind,” she replied when asked if Australia could have done anything differently. But at the end of the day, all of us in our dressing room would applaud Harman and Jemi for the way that they played, the way that they went about that chase after losing two early wickets.”