India continued its winning streak in Women’s One Day Internationals with a comfortable six-wicket victory over Ireland in the first match of a three-match series held in Rajkot.
The team was without captain Harmanpreet Kaur and bowler Renuka Singh Thakur, but they showed no signs of struggle in their absence. Medium pacer Titas Sadhu dismissed opener Sarah Forbes, while Priya Mishra took two quick wickets, removing Orla Prendergast and Laura Delany in consecutive deliveries, reducing Ireland to 56 for 4 within the first 15 overs.
However, Ireland mounted a fightback through captain Gaby Lewis and Leah Paul, who developed a partnership of 115 runs from 170 balls for the sixth wicket. Their effort was aided by some sloppy fielding from the Indian side, with stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana and Harleen Deol among those who dropped chances.
Once Paul was run out for 59, India managed to stem the flow of runs and restricted Ireland to 238 for 7 in their allotted 50 overs. Lewis top-scored for the visitors with 92 runs off 129 balls before being caught and bowled by Deepti Sharma. Sharma and Saima Thakor delivered impressive performances, and there was also a wicket on debut for Sayali Satghare in her final over.
India never seemed likely to lose once they began their chase. Mandhana provided a thrilling start, scoring 41 runs from 29 balls, which helped her surpass 4,000 WODI runs in the process. After Mandhana’s dismissal, the focus shifted to Pratika Rawal, who top-scored with a career-best 89 runs off 96 deliveries and was named Player of the Match for her effort.
India experienced a slight wobble when Harleen Deol and Jemimah Rodrigues fell in quick succession. However, Tejal Hasabnis stepped up, scoring an unbeaten 53 runs from 46 balls to guide her team home. Rawal was dismissed with seven runs still required, but Richa Ghosh entered the match and hit two boundaries to secure the win.
India will now aim to seal the series in the second ODI, scheduled for January 12 in Rajkot.
