The Indian girls’s cricket group achieved their largest ODI victory by demolishing Eire by an astonishing 304 runs in Rajkot on Wednesday, finishing a 3-Zero clear sweep. The match outcome was a foregone conclusion as soon as India set an enormous goal of 436 runs for Eire to chase.
Eire might solely muster 131 runs earlier than being bundled out in 31.four overs. India’s record-breaking efficiency was led by skipper Smriti Mandhana‘s 70-ball century and her opening accomplice Pratika Rawal‘s 154 runs off 129 balls, propelling the group to a complete of 435/5, the best by any Indian group in ODIs.
Mandhana and Rawal’s opening partnership of 233 runs in simply 26.four overs set the stage for an unstoppable Indian victory. Spinners Tanuja Kanwar and Deepti Sharma then took cost, sharing 5 wickets between them to decimate the inexperienced Irish lineup.
Orla Prendergast and Sarah Forbes offered some resistance with a 64-run partnership for the third wicket, serving to Eire get better from 24/2 to 88. Nonetheless, as soon as Prendergast was dismissed by Kanwar, India dominated the vacationers, claiming the remaining seven wickets for simply 33 runs.
This victory additionally surpassed India’s earlier largest margin of victory by runs, which was 249 towards the identical opposition in 2017 at Potchefstroom, South Africa. Mandhana’s 10th ODI century got here off simply 70 deliveries, surpassing Harmanpreet Kaur‘s 87-ball hundred towards South Africa final yr.
India joined Australia and New Zealand within the elite record of groups which have breached the 400-run mark in ODIs. Mandhana’s damaging batting included aerial pictures over the ‘V’ and clearing the 30-yard circle, whereas Pratika complemented her captain brilliantly with a measured knock, notching her maiden worldwide century in her sixth innings.
Their 233-run partnership made them solely the fourth Indian pair to document a 200-run stand in Girls’s ODIs and the third occasion of each Indian openers scoring tons of in ODIs. The duo maintained a brisk scoring price all through their partnership, including 90 runs through the Energy Play and 67 within the subsequent 10 overs.
Mandhana reached her first century of the calendar yr with an beautiful drive off Arlene Kelly, who bore the brunt of her onslaught. Even Kelly’s variations had been dispatched with ease, with Mandhana following a six with one other boundary within the 24th over.
Mandhana additionally took on Eire’s main bowler, Prendergast, smashing her for a boundary down the bottom and a towering six over long-on. Promoted to No. 3, Richa Ghosh additionally returned to type, making a 37-ball fifty, her fifth in ODIs.
