DHAKA: Before being handed the ball in defence of 228 in the second women's ODI against Bangladesh in the 30th over, Jemimah Rodrigues had taken only one wicket in the format. But with the spin-aiding pitch having extra bounce to work with, Jemimah took four wickets, giving only three runs in 3.1 overs to bowl out Bangladesh for 120, giving India a massive 108-run win and helped them level the three-game series 1-1.
Jemimah also became the first India women's cricketer to take four wickets and score a fifty in the same ODI match.
"I just wanted to pitch the ball in the right area and allow the surface to do the rest. Glad that the captain believed in me," said Jemimah after winning the Player of the match award for her all-round performance, which included a career-best effort of 86 with the bat.
India came into Wednesday's match on the back of losing ODI series opener by 40 runs, where none of the batters got going. But in the second game, Jemimah shared a crucial 73-run stand with captain Harmanpreet Kaur (52) to take India to 228 for eight, with strike-rotation being a key factor in negating the pressure from Bangladesh spinners. "I was under pressure, because we knew how crucial this game was. We saw how good Bangladesh were in the first game. But as a team we spoke about how we can respond after a loss. Smriti (Mandhana), Yasti (Yastika Bhatia) gave us a good start. Harman (Harmanpreet Kaur) and I played well. Harleen played well and then the bowlers were brilliant," added Jemimah.
The inability to rotate strike and batters not taking responsibility was something which skipper Harmanpreet voiced after the defeat in the first ODI, all of which was witnessed in the second game.
"We wanted to bat only, and it was a great opportunity to bat first and put up a decent total. One of me and Jemi (Jemimah) wanted to play till the end. We wanted to put a good stand. Our focus was on rotating the strike," said Harmanpreet after the second ODI.
"We have been batting on flat tracks and we were not able to adjust quickly (in the first game). After the first game, we understood how we had to bat and the areas. It will be a good game after two days and we want to finish with a win," she added. IANS
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