Smriti Mandhana Shines As India Beat Ireland To Reach T20 WC Semis In Rain-Affected Match

India will most likely clash against defending champions Australia  in Cape Town on Thursday, February 23.

Smirit Mandhana starred with the bat as she played a heroic 87-run knock off 56 balls. ( Image Source :@BCCIWomen / Twitter )

India women's cricket team qualified for Women's T20 World Cup semi-final after winning the rain-affected match against Ireland women's cricket team at St. George Park in Gqebera on Monday, February 20.  India secured a 5-run win vs Ireland on the D/L method. Smirit Mandhana, who was dropped thrice by Ireland fielders during the match, starred with the bat as she played a heroic 87-run knock off 56 balls -- her career best score, highest score by an Indian women's batter in T20Is. India will most likely clash against defending champions Australia  in Cape Town on Thursday, February 23.

Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bat first. India's star opener Smriti Mandhana made the bowlers pay as she stood out by scoring a scintillating fifty. Mandhana's heroics and Jemimah Rodrigues' quick-fire 12-ball 19 cameo helped India post 155 on the board. In reply, Ireland were off to a terrible start. In the very first over, they lost two wickets. 

Vice-captain @mandhana_smriti starred with the bat & bagged the Player of the Match as #TeamIndia beat Ireland by 5️⃣ runs (via DLS) to seal a place in the #T20WorldCup semis! 👏 👏 #INDvIRE

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/rmyQRfmmLk pic.twitter.com/GftbVg1W4W

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) February 20, 2023

Ireland bounced back to bring the game in balance with skipper Laura Delany - who picked three Indian wickets in first innings - and Gaby Lewis's hard-fought 52-run stand. It looked like the match would turn up to be a nail-biting thriller but rain stopped play in the ninth over with India five runs ahead of the DLS par score of 59.

India playing XI: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), Devika Vaidya, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Shikha Pandey, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Thakur Singh

Ireland playing XI: Amy Hunter, Gaby Lewis, Orla Prendergast, Laura Delany (c), Eimear Richardson, Louise Little, Mary Waldron (wk), Arlene Kelly, Leah Paul, Cara Murray, Georgina Dempsey