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Jemimah Rodrigues, the 25-year-old, is the toast of the nation after she hit an unbeaten 127 to help India record the biggest-ever chase in women’s cricket. The feat became all the memorable considering the opponent was Australia, the seven-time champions. The performance led to the hosts reaching the final of the Women’s World Cup 2025, where India will square off against South Africa on November 2 at the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
Jemimah might have scored 127 off 134 balls, but there was a moment during the chase when she felt she couldn’t get the job done, and the incident happened when Harmanpreet Kaur got out for 89 and Deepti Sharma came to the middle.
It is worth mentioning that Jemimah and Harmanpreet shared a 167-run stand for the third wicket, and this partnership was instrumental in India pulling off a heist against Australia. Jemimah’s nerves were settled once she had a conversation with Deepti Sharma, with whom she eventually shared a 38-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Jemimah told Deepti that she felt like the job couldn’t be done by her, and this led to the all-rounder constantly egging the batter on.
“When I was inside and around 85, when I was batting, I was really tired. I had spoken to Deepti at that time. I told Deepti, ‘You know Deepu, please keep talking to me, I can’t do this’ Every single ball from there, Deepti was cheering and encouraging me. Every ball, she even sacrificed her wicket for my one run. And then she told me, when she was walking back, she was like, ‘Koi na, tu match khatam kar ke aa. (No worries, you finish the match),” said Jemimah in her dressing room speech.
“It wouldn’t be possible without partnerships; it wouldn’t be possible without special cameos that go unnoticed. But Deepti’s knock, Richa’s knock, Amanjot’s knock, took a lot of pressure off me. Of course, Harmanpreet and I had a great partnership, but in the past, it has always happened that one of us loses our wicket, and we go on to lose the match. But today, this Indian team changed that,” she added.
‘One more to go’
Jemimah was also awarded the Fielder of the Match accolade by her fielding coach Munish Bali once the fixture against Australia was over.
The Player of the Match in the semi-final against Australia also cautioned her team to stay focused on the goal and look to keep the trophy home.
“Last, but not the least, we have done so much, one more to go,” said Jemimah.
The Women’s World Cup is guaranteed to have a new winner as neither of South Africa or India have ever won the competition.
