Picture Credit: The Hundred
England's new format tournament - The Hundred - is up and running with some of the top players in both men's and women's cricket showing their class. After some fantastic knocks by Sam Billings, Dawid Malan and Dane van Niekerk in the first few matches, the Indian fans had their eyes set on Saturday as Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues were set to feature for the first time in the tournament for their respective teams.
Although Mandhana had a disappointing day in Nottingham as she was dismissed on a duck while opening for Southern Brave, her friend had a completely contrasting outing at Headingley. Jemimah Rodrigues has had a troublesome few weeks in the UK so far as she failed to make an impact during the white-ball series between India and England. As a result, she was in and out of the side and spent most of the time on the bench.
Jemimah smashed 17 fours and 1 six during her blistering knock
However, the young prodigy of Indian women's cricket finally unleashed her potential and showed the world what she is actually capable of. Chasing a daunting target of 131 against Welsh Fire, Jemimah Rodrigues was sent to open the batting for Northern Superchargers. However, she continued losing partners at the other end as the score read 19/4 after 18 balls. They were in all sorts of trouble when Alice Richards joined Rodrigues in the middle.
This is when the Indian batter launched a counter-attack which left everyone in awe of her talent. Jemimah completed her half-century in 26 deliveries and eventually went on to score 92* off 43 balls, hitting 17 fours and 1 six. She batted at a strike rate of 213.95 as Northern Superchargers hunted down the target with 15 balls remaining.
Reflecting on her knock after the match, Jemimah made a hilarious statement as she said, "England is my second home, and Yorkshire, I am buying a house here. I kept it simple, it was a tough time sitting out not getting runs."
Netizens praise Rodrigues for her heroics at Headingley
Jemimah Rodrigues was trending on Twitter on Saturday after the 20-year-old set The Hundred on fire with her breathtaking knock. The Indian fans were extremely happy to see the youngster doing justice to her potential as they termed it as the best knock of the league so far. Meanwhile, former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen claimed that Jemimah is now his favourite player. Here are a few of the best tweets: