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India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana scored her career-best score to power India into the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup after securing a five-run win over Ireland by DLS Method in a rain-affected match at the St George’s Park in Gqeberha, on Monday.
After losing a crucial game against England, India had to beat Ireland on to seal their place in the semi-finals. In the first innings, India managed to put up a total of 155/6 in their allotted 20 overs. In reply, Ireland were 54/2 in 8.2 overs and five runs short of India’s total when play was stopped due to rain as India won the match by five runs.
With this win, India became the third team to seal a place in the semi-finals after Australia and England.
After opting to bat first, India were off to a good start with Mandhana playing some delightful strokes as usual. Mandhana along with her opening partner Shafali Verma added a 62-run opening stand before Shafali ended her struggle at 24 off 29 balls, hitting three fours by getting caught off Ireland captain Laura Delany with Amy Hunter taking a brilliant catch in the deep while diving in front.
Playing in her 150th T20I game, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur came to bat at No.3 before Jemimah Rodrigues and completed her 3000 runs in T20Is, becoming the only fourth women’s cricketer to achieve this milestone.
Meanwhile, Mandhana initially struggled to get her timing right and was lucky to get dropped thrice with Ireland fielders dropping easy catches. It seemed Mandhana was frustrated but she kept trying and eventually she got the momentum when she lofted a ball for mid-off for a boundary.
After that shot, Mandhana was back in her groove hitting boundaries all over the park. She completed her half-century in 40 balls with a six over mid-wicket. In the next over, Mandhana scored back-to-back boundaries to Georgina Dempsey as India were 105/1 at the end of 15 overs.
India are through to the semi-finals 🥳
They win by DLS method against Ireland in Gqeberha to finish the Group stage with six points 👊#INDvIRE | #T20WorldCup | #TurnItUp pic.twitter.com/y46pOhPKPz
— ICC (@ICC) February 20, 2023
The duo of Mandhana and Harmanpreet added a 52-run partnership off 38 balls for the second wicket before Harmanpreet was dismissed caught on 13 off 20 in the 16th over. After bowling a wide, Delany took another wicket on the next legal ball of the over by removing in-form wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh for a first-ball duck.
Coming to bat at No.5, Jemimah Rodrigues along with Mandhana then added a small 28-run partnership before Mandhana was dismissed in the 19th over, scoring her career-best score of 87 off 56 balls, hitting nine fours and three sixes at a strike rate of 155.35.
On the very next ball, all-rounder Deepti Sharma got a leading edge while trying to flick the ball and was caught off Orla Prendergast on a first-ball duck, the second of India’s innings.
In the last over, Rodrigues smashed two fours before getting stumped on the last ball after scoring 19 off 12 with three fours as India managed to put a competitive total on the board.
The pick of the bowlers for Ireland was Delany, who took 3/33 from her four overs and Prendergast, who claimed 2/22.
While chasing, there was a mix-up on the very first ball of Ireland’s innings with opener Amy Hunter getting run-out on just 1. In the same over, Renuka Singh continued her brilliant display of swing bowling by getting Prendergast bowled on a duck to put India right on top early in the innings.
However, after her dismissal, opener Gaby Lewis along with Delany then did the repair work for Ireland and made sure they take full advantage of the field restrictions by ending the Powerplay at 44/2.
Lewis was the more aggressive of the two as she scored boundaries at regular intervals while Delany supported her well. The duo of Lewis and Delany went on to add a 53-run partnership as Ireland were 54/2 in 8.2 overs when rain stopped play with just 5 runs short off the DLS par score.
Ireland fought well after the initial setback but the rain interruption ended their tournament on a disappointing note. At the end, Lewis remained unbeaten on 32 off 25 deliveries, hitting five fours while Delany was not out on 17 off 20 with three fours.
For India, Renuka Singh was the stand-out bowler taking 1/10 from her two overs.
Brief scores: India 155/6 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 87, Shafali Verma 24; Laura Delany 3-33, Orla Prendergast 2-22) beat Ireland 54/2 in 8.2 overs (Gaby Lewis 32 not out, Laura Delany 19 not out) by five runs (DLS Method).
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