Why Was Harmanpreet’s Wicket Vs AUS A ‘Blessing In Disguise’? Jemimah Explains | Cricket News

Jemimah Rodrigues batting against Australia.

(PC: AP)

The match-winner in the greatest match of India women’s ODI history, Jemimah Rodrigues, called the wicket of her captain and partner, Harmanpreet Kaur, ‘a blessing in disguise’, despite the duo sharing a crucial 167 (156) run partnership in the world-record chase of 339 against the best team in the world, Australia.

Rodrigues explained that right around when Kaur mis-timed a pull shot to get out for 89 (88) against Ashleigh Gardner, the young number three was starting to lose focus. She said that after the wicket, her eyes widened again because the onus was on her to score the runs and take India home — which is exactly what she did, going from 85 at the time to 127 (134) and staying not out to secure the chase in the 49th over.

“I remember, I also felt that way,” Rodrigues said in the post-match press conference when asked about India’s tendency to take too much pressure when a wicket was lost. “I was telling Harry di, ‘We have to finish it, we can’t leave it till the end, just because we are set and we know we can take it through’. And, you know, when that (the wicket) happened… it wasn’t a blessing but it was a blessing in disguise for me because I was kind of losing my focus because of my tiredness. But when Harry di got out, it added more responsibility on me that, ‘Ok, I need to be here. Ok, she’s out, I’ll score for her.’ And that again got me in the right zone, and I started playing sensibly.”

Harmanpreet knows all too well about how a semi-final-winning knock against Australia feels. It was particularly sweet for Jemimah because she had had it far from easy in the tournament, being the first batter to be dropped despite batting out of position in most matches.

“She is someone who always wants to do well for the team,” Harmanpreet said of Rodrigues. Always very calculative and wants to take responsibility. We always have that trust in her. Both of us had a good time on the pitch. Whenever we were batting, we were complementing each other and calculating. Really enjoy batting with her. She is always telling me we got five runs, seven runs, two balls are left. That shows how involved she is. Amazed to see how she was thinking. Lots of credit to her, to hold her nerve and keep batting for the team,” she added.