India sailed to the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s World T20 after registering their third consecutive win in Group B, this time beating Ireland by 52 runs at Guyana on Thursday.
Arriving into the tournament with not the best records in T20s, India once again put on a team performance against a determined Irish side.
India’s below-par batting performance was covered up by the bowlers though. India managed only 145 for 6 batting first, riding on a painstaking half-century from former skipper Mithali Raj but the bowlers were up to the mark restricting Ireland to 93 for 8.
Indian spinners led Radha Yadav ran through Ireland. Radha picked up three wickets for 25 runs and Deepti Sharma sneered two wickets for only 15 runs while captain Harmanpreet Kaur bowled her quota of 4 overs for only 10 runs. In the 16 overs of spin, India gave away only 81 runs and picked up 8 wickets.
Earlier, Promoted to open the batting, veteran Mithali (51 off 56 balls) added 67 runs in 10 overs with Smriti Mandhana (33, 29 balls) but the innings never gained required momentum on a track that remained a bit damp due to overnight showers.
The decision to bring in Jemimah Rodrigues at No 3, didn't quite work out well as Mithali never got going despite hitting four boundaries and a six.
Having effectively scored 22 off five deliveries, Mithali scored another 21 off 51 balls. Her failure to rotate the strike did affect the momentum once Mandhana was bowled by medium pacer Kim Garth, trying a wild slog. She hit four boundaries and a six.
Young Rodrigues hit three fours in his 11-ball-18 but was stumped off Laura Delany's wide delivery when she tried to give charge.
Skipper Harmanpreet hit a six but was soon dismissed. As wickets fell at one end, Mithali couldn't shift gears at the other end. She was finally out in the 19th over, deceived by a slower delivery from Garth but India's chances of putting up a substantial total had gone up in smoke by then