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Rodrigues and India knock South Africa out of Tri-Nations Cup

cricket07 May 2025 13:00| © MWP
By:CS Chiwanza
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Jemimah Rodrigues © Gallo Images

Jemimah Rodrigues registered her highest ODI score as she inspired India Women to a 23-run win over South Africa Women in their Servo Cup Women's Tri-Nations Series encounter at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo, on Wednesday.

The toss went Chloe Tryon's way, and the South African captain elected to bowl first.

The plan was to restrict India to a manageable total, however, India had other ideas and scored a mammoth 337-9.

South Africa battled to 314-7 in their chase.

The result means that South Africa have now been knocked out of the tournament, and India will square off with Sri Lanka in the final.

South Africa still have one more match to go, which is now a dead rubber against Sri Lanka on Friday.

India's victory was built on the back of a sensational century by Jemimah Rodrigues.

The 24-year-old scythed 15 fours and a single six on her way to 123 from 101 deliveries. T

his is her highest score in ODIs. Her previous best was 102, which came against Ireland in January this year.

She faced 89 balls to reach her second ODI century.

Rodrigues scored around the wicket in her fluent knock. The middle-order batter swept prodigiously, and most of her boundaries against the spinners were from the shot.

Fittingly, Rodrigues unfurled the sweep for a single to register the milestone.

Her impressive innings ended when she tried to hoick a slower-ball from Masabata Klaas to the boundary.

She didn't time it well and top-edged it to Sune Luus stationed at point.

Deepti Sharma, with whom Rodrigues shared an industrious 122-run fifth-wicket partnership, put on a show in her 84-ball stay in the middle.

She raced to a new career-best ODI score of 93 in an innings that featured 10 fours and two sixes.

The pair tore South Africa's bowling apart and appeared to have been batting on a different surface.

DERCKSEN'S VALIANT INNINGS IN VAIN

Their innings erected a monumental mountain to scale for South Africa.

Annerie Dercksen put her best foot forward as she battled to keep South Africa in the contest.

However, she lacked the fluency shown by Rodrigues and Sharma.

The 24-year-old allrounder scored a valiant 81 off 80 balls.

This is her second ODI half-century and she faced 54 balls to reach the milestone. This is her highest score in the format.

Dercksen's innings stood out in a batting line-up that offered little support.

Despite that, Dercksen batted through cramps in the hope of salvaging the contest. However, her effort was in vain.

South Africa needed one of their top three batters to play the role Smriti Mandhana fulfilled for India. 

The opener held India's innings together with a well-paced 51 off 63 balls. The platform she created gave Rodrigues and Sharma a springboard.

In contrast, South Africa's top three scored a few runs slowly.

Their run rate was south of the required run rate for extended periods.

They plodded along at four runs an over in the powerplay, and things didn't improve much afterwards.

They couldn't read the Indian spinners, who spun webs around them. When they got bat on ball, they found fielders instead of gaps.

South Africa's captain, Chloe Tryon, kept fans interested with a brisk 36-ball half-century.

This is her 12th ODI half-century. Tryon carved an outstanding 67 from 43 balls.

Her entertaining knock ended when she was cleaned up by Sharma while looking for a big shot.

Amanjot Kaur was India's most successful bowler with three wickets for 47 runs in eight overs.

Deepti Sharma finished with two wickets for 57 runs in 10 overs. Shree Charani and Pratika Rawal took a wicket each.

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