IND-W vs IRE-W | Historic Smriti-Rawal tons help India post 435 to complete dominant 3-0 whitewash

As has often been the case when Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal have taken to the crease together, India got off to a rolicking start in the third ODI once the latter broke the shackles with three boundaries off Orla Prendergrast in the third over. Smriti needed little invitation to join the party and registered the first maximum of the game with back-to-back blows against Arlene Kelly, taking the powerplay score to a handsome 90/0. The scoring rate curbed a little once the field spread out but it was still enough to add 67 runs over the next 10 overs with both batters bringing up their respective half-centuries and becoming the first Indian pair with two 150+ plus opening stands in WODIs. The Irish were grossly sloppy in the field and lacklustre with their lines and lengths which exacerbated their vows and Smriti captilazied to break Harmanpreet Kaur’s record of the fastest century by an Indian by reach the mark in just 70 deliveries, the sixth-fastest in the history of WODIs. It took the visitors 26.4 overs to finally end the 233-run partnership when Smriti scooped an innocous Orla delivery straight to fine leg, thus departing for 135. Rawal, meanwhile, gunned on with Richa Ghosh going after the bowlers at the other end, to bring up her maiden ton in Indian colours in the 35th over at run-a-ball before quickly changing gears. Even when the rapid century stand broke following Ghosh’s departure for 59 off 42, Rawal did not look back and ended up with 154 runs to her name, the third highest by an Indian in the format. Cameos from Tejal Hasabnis (28), Harleen Deol (15), and Deepti Sharma (11) towards the end ensured India broke the 400-barrier for the first time and set their rivals a massive target of 436.

In response, Titas Sadhu broke through early after a poor first over worth 12 by trapping Gaby Lewis plumb in front. Sayali Satghare made it a double whammy for the visitors by castling Christina Coulter Reilly in the very next over but a spree of boundaries from Sarah Forbes and Orla thereafter helped the Irish recover to 65/2 at the end of the powerplay. The partnership had grown past 50 and was beginning to look dangerous when Tanuja Kanwar picked the perfect moment for her maiden ODI scalp by sliding one through Orla’s attempted late cut in the 15th over. The Women in Green’s hopes all but ended 15 deliveries later when Forbes was run-out courtesy of some good work by Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh with the score 100/4. Three wickets for the former thereafter, one each for her fellow spinners Tanuja and Minnu Mani, and another horrid run-out bookended the drastic collapse as India sealed yet another convinving win.

Great to see new players like Pratika Rawal making their mark

— Raffaela Risha (@raffrisha) January 15, 2025