
IND W vs IRE W: After seven arduous years of waiting, middle-order batswoman Jemimah Rodrigues was overjoyed to reach her first international century finally. In addition to reaching a personal milestone, her 102 runs in the second ODI against Ireland at Rajkot helped India set a new record by reaching their highest-ever ODI score of 370 runs.
“It feels great after scoring a century,” said India’s most promising young batsman, reflecting on what has aided her during this innings. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Rodrigues remarked, describing how timing and patience were both important components.
Jemimah Rodrigues’s for a century in IND W vs IRE W
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She acknowledged that her success in this inning was a result of a combination of early patience and timely acceleration. Rodrigues explained how each step he took helped him reach the innings’ final century. “I set small targets in this innings and tried to achieve them,” he stated.
She takes pride in the fact that she was able to attain the three-figure milestone by meticulously building her innings. After struggling to turn earlier beginnings into significant scores, she thought about the value of patience in the early going of her innings.
“The most encouraging aspect of today’s innings for me was how patient I was in the beginning. She clarified that playing patiently was crucial.
She had been putting a lot of effort into fixing the errors from previous games, Rodrigues continued. She concentrated on remaining upbeat and not being too hard on herself after getting out cheaply in the first ODI of the series. “I was upset with myself because of how I ended the first ODI. I have to continue to think positively about myself.
I lose a lot of confidence if I’m too severe on myself,” she said. She recalled her early days and found inspiration in her Under-19 career, which included an undefeated 202-run thumping of Saurashtra in the 2017 Under-19 Women’s ODI competition.
She was able to recover and concentrate on her areas of improvement in the second ODI thanks to this experience and mentality. “I thought back to my Under-19 days, when I got a double century in addition to other hundreds. She continued, “I adopted the same mindset and applied it today, and it worked.”
A Match-Changing Partnership and Strategic Batting

Without the regular skipper, the responsibility was doubled for Rodrigues, and he was promoted to number 4 in the batting order. That performance helped India’s win. This time, as she reached the half-century from 62 deliveries, the further batting was purely aggressive, wherein she scored 50 runs on just 28 balls in the last ten overs.
In this stage, Rodrigues was part of a crucial 183-run partnership with Harleen Deol, who herself scored a valuable 89 runs. Rodrigues credited the excellent start provided by the opening pair, Smriti Mandhana, and Pratika Rawal, for making her job easier in the middle overs.
“If your openers give you such a start, then it becomes easier to handle the innings in the middle overs,” she acknowledged. Rodrigues and Deol kept their calm and batted sensibly even though they lost two quick wickets. They understood that the importance of the game was to pace the innings. “We took some time. I think the Irish bowlers were also dominating at that time,” she said.
Smart Strategy and Risk-Free Cricket

Rodrigues pointed out how she and Deol took a relaxed approach in the middle overs, more so because they knew they could accelerate later in the innings. “The specialty of ODI matches is that some time can be taken in it, and that is what we did,” Rodrigues explained. The duo played risk-free cricket till the 40th over, knowing fully well that they could make up for the slower start with a flurry of runs towards the end.
Rodrigues’ knock, along with her teammates, helped India post a daunting total of 370 runs, which was too much for Ireland to chase. The 183-run partnership with Deol was the turning point of the match, as Rodrigues showed her ability to shift gears when needed.
A Breakthrough in a Long Wait

For Jemimah Rodrigues, this century was not only a personal achievement but also a testament to her resilience and determination.
Years of waiting for this moment were followed by the 102 runs that came as a significant milestone in her international career. From Under-19 days to becoming one of India’s most dependable batters, her journey has been a story of growth, perseverance, and an unyielding will to improve. Now, with this century, Rodrigues has etched her name to be one of the important players for India in the years ahead.
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