Jemimah Rodrigues was adjudged ‘Player of the match’ for her 78-ball 86 and four-wicket haul while conceding just three runs in India women’s 108-run win over Bangladesh on July 19. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur contributed to despite getting retired hurt and scored a half-century. In the post-match presentation, Harmanpreet handled the Bangladesh presenter's faux pas well as he called her Jemimah.
After the post-match interview, the presenter said, "Thank you Jemimah," to which she politely said "Harmanpreet Kaur". She did not wait for the presenter to correct his mistake and walked off the presentation area with a smile on her face. The video has been making rounds on social media.
Harmanpreet scored 52 runs from 88 deliveries including three fours. She shared a crucial partnership with Rodrigues after India's top order departed. She could not bowl due to the injury and Rodrigues got a chance to create history. The youngster took four wickets for just three runs, her best bowling figures in the format. Also, these are the best bowling figures against Bangladesh in Bangladesh.
“It was a great opportunity for us to bat first and set up a decent total on the board. We spoke about one of the batters batting till the end, when Jemmy came in we played according to the ball and focus was on rotating the strike. We have been batting on flat tracks, played ODIs after a long time and hence were not able to adjust quickly, but we spoke about how to adjust and bat on these surfaces (after the first game). It will be a good game in two days time,” the Indian skipper had said in the post-match presentation.
Rodrigues' four-fer helped India bundle out the hosts for 120 with 89 balls left in the innings in the run chase of 229. While other Indian batters struggled to score freely, she found boundaries at ease at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka.
“I would be lying to say that I was not under pressure, we saw how good Bangladesh were in the first game. But as a team we spoke about how we can respond after a loss. Harman and I were going really well then Harleen came in and gave us that push. I didn't try to do anything extra, just tried to pitch it in the right areas and allow the surface to do the rest, credit to the management for believing in my bowling,” the 22-year-old said.
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