Women’s Asia Cup: Rodrigues sparkles in India’s campaign opener against Sri Lanka with career-best 76

Jemimah Rodrigues notched up her career-best T20I score of 76 in the opening Women’s Asia Cup match against Sri Lanka at the Sylhet Outer Cricket Stadium on Saturday. Rodrigues came to the crease as early as in the third over after Smriti Mandhana was dismissed cheaply. Shafali Verma as well didn’t trouble the scorers for a longer duration as India lost both the openers inside four overs. Rodrigues then stitched a 92-run partnership with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur over a period of 12 overs and drove India to a 150-run total which ultimately proved to be an uphill task for Sri Lanka. The batter put up an exhibition of boundaries as she hit 11 fours and one maximum in her 53-ball inning. The right-hand batter has been in prime form in recent times. She played some wonderful knocks at the Commonwealth Games where India finished as the runners-up. However, she had to miss the subsequent series against England owing to an injury.

.@JemiRodrigues scored a superb 7⃣6⃣ & bagged the Player of the Match Award as #TeamIndia beat Sri Lanka. 👏 👏

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/AoLf8lTw5X#AsiaCup2022 | #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/mQEZ0u5xW8

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) October 1, 2022

However, she made a comeback as if she had never left the field and brutally punished the Lankan bowlers. Rodrigues also won the player of the match award for her match-winning knock. She told that it was difficult to not touch the bat for six weeks, but she overcame it with help from her family and her coaching staff. “Nothing like coming back and playing for India. I would like to thank Mumbai – the heat is the same here as it is where I stay back in Mumbai. The wicket was tricky, it kept on the lower side, initially, it was not turning, but then it turned. But I had prepared well for this, even in Bangalore, I asked for slower and turning wickets. That preparation really helped me here. We will take the win and take the positives from this win,” Rodrigues said at the post-match presentations. India defeated Sri Lanka by 41 runs as the opponents were bundled out for 109 in 18.2 overs. India will next play Malaysia on 3 October, Monday. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.